Premonition
by xRhia
Summary: .:Takes place after Shadow at Badlock:. Charlie and his friends head out to Bloors for another uneventful year of school. At least that's what they thought before school began. As soon as the first class began... everything they knew and believed changed.
1. Prologue

**Hey guys! My very first fanfiction and I really would love reviews. This story began as a small plot for NaNoWriMo but gradually ideas have begun flowing into my head and so now this story has many complex plots within it. It has TancredxEmma, a bit of FidelioxOlivia, BillyxOC, and ManfredxOC. It's very complicated so I hope as you read it will become clear. If not just message me and tell me. I'll do my best to explain the general plot. The story isn't even half way down and I will be constantly updating all ten chapters that I wrote last month. I'm afraid updates will take longer after that with school and homework and my other story as well.**

**Anyway, enjoy!  
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_This can not be happening. _It was a warm, chilly summer day and the sun was setting. The chilly wind swept through the silent forest as all the creatures in it prepared for the night. In a small cave, far inside the forest, a young mother deer settled itself down and gently licked its baby fawn. The baby fawn was not more than a few months old and as it quietly suckled its mother's milk, something flashed in front of the cave.

"What was that, mama?" the baby deer asked softly.

"I don't know, sweetie. Don't worry about it. Just get some sleep. You've played the day away, and now you must sleep." the mother deer cooed in his ear. The baby deer went back to suckling, its eyes drooped with sleepiness.

Neither deer knew perfectly what had run past them but it did not matter to them. They had lived a peaceful life and they will continue living it until the time comes for them to were not expecting to have a fun filled, perilous adventure as they soon would have.

However, the thing that ran by them was not looking for a peaceful life. It was just merely looking for a way out, a way to save her life. As it ran swiftly in the forest, leaping over logs and ducking under branches, its hair blew in the wind. Its long, thick, layered brown hair was now a mess. It was tangled and unkempt and branches clung

to it. Its body was in no better shape. Scanning down its body, one could see it was a girl, in the way it dressed. Her feet and hands were scorched marred by scratches and her face looked as if it was pushed into a barrel of dirt. Her clothes were tattered and faded and whatever shoes she had worn were no longer apparent whether she had worn shoes or not, one could simply not tell. As the poor girl ran, branches tugged at her and stones grounded them into her skin, but she simply took no notice. Whatever she was running from was far more important then the state she was currently in. As the wind blew at her, it carried some audible words.

"For day and night, you will toll,

like a cursed, forgotten doll.

But comes the day that you will shine,

My dear Rina,

you'll always be mine."

It was no longer light out, the sun had already set. The whole of the forest was now sound asleep, except for this poor young girl. She continued running in darkness, constantly tripping over branches and logs. What she was running from, no one could tell. She, herself, wasn't even sure if they were chasing her anymore, however she could not stop. She kept repeating this poem, over and over, hoping that it will give her strength. "But comes the day that you will shine…" Suddenly, her foot got caught in the bottom of a log and she fell hard onto the ground. Winded, the young girl struggled to pull herself up. _"I can't stop, not now. What if they come and catch me"_ Struggling, she pulled herself and stumbled on. She felt exhausted and nearly collapsed to the floor. Kneeling on all fours, she closed her eyes tight and tried desperately to imagine herself in a perfect world. When she opened her eyes, she spotted a dark cave hiding in the distance. Opening her eyes wide she looked up into the sky. It was still dark but the stars were twinkling bright. Had God finally answered her prayers? With renewed strength, the girl pushed herself up and made her way towards the cave. Setting a foot inside the soft cave ground, she leaned against the cold cave wall and carefully looked around. It seemed empty.

"I can stay here tonight." she said sighing in relief. "I'll get some sleep and everything will be all right tomorrow." She walked slowly further inside the cave, heaving with every step. Reaching the end of the cave, the young girl took one last look around and collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Despite the ground being cold and hard, the battered girl thought it was the best thing in the world. Closing her eyes, she fell into a fitful sleep.

As the girl slept, she dreamt of her pursuers. She was running on a meadow and her pursuers close behind her. Suddenly she tripped and a gun was shot. The girl felt immobilized with pain. Clutching her side, she gasped in terror at her hand soaked in blood. She heard rapid angry words in the distant and cringed in fear when she saw her pursuers race up to her. There were three and all were strongly built. One reached down with his muscled arm and pinned the young girl to the ground. The girl's hair splayed across her face, dirty and matted. "Please don't…" the girl breathed. She struggled to breath as the man's grasp grew tighter and tighter. The girl futilely tried to escape his grasp but it was too much. Soon, she felt her body begin to give in and as she closed her eyes to never see again… the girl shot open her up eyes and sat up, breathing heavily.

Looking around, she breathed a sign of relief. It was just a dream. A terrible, horrible dream. She was safe, in this cave, at least for now. Rubbing her eyes, the girl brushed her hair away from her face and touched a handful of sweat. Grimacing, the girl wiped her hand on her shirt, and pushed herself up. She felt much stronger and carefully, she headed for the mouth of the cave. Peeking out, the girl saw that during the time she had slept, the sun had risen. Glancing behind, she gasped a big breath and slowly began picking her way through the forest.

She trudged her way through the forest for many hours and when she finally decided to take a rest, the sun was in the middle of the sky, it was around noon. The girl wiped her brow and looked around. Spotting a bush with fruits, she walked over and inspected the fruits. Picking a handful, the girl placed some in her pocket and dumped the rest into her mouth. Feeling the sweet juice squirt out of the fruit practically made the girl wish she could stay there forever. However, just when she thought this a branch crackled. Snapping her head behind, the girl anxiously looked for the noise. A scream sounded and the girl gasped in fear when her pursuers leaped out of a bush. Frantically, she quickly turned around and stumbling, leaped over a log and began her escape yet again. _Why must they run after me? Can't they just give up? _

The young girl's adrenaline raced inside her as she sprinted zigzag through the forest, frantically dodging the bullets being shot. Suddenly, the sun's light burned into the girl's eyes, causing her to momentarily close them and in the doing so, trip. Quickly chancing a glance behind the girl desperately scrambled to her feet, nearly missing a bullet. She continued to run, her hands over her eyes. The light became brighter and brighter when suddenly a whole blast of light shone into the girl's face. "I'm out?" she breathed. She didn't dare look behind. The men were probably still chasing her. However as she continued to run, she came to a lake. Briefly stopping, the girl fearfully looked down at the cold water lapping her feet. Her shoes have since disappeared and glancing one last look at the forest, the girl dived into the water and began swimming.

She was a strong swimmer, luckily, the freestyle her strongest stroke. As she swam further from the forest, she heard loud hateful cries, the men were cursing and threatening at her. Bullets were shot into the water. However, she calmly continued to swim and soon, the shouts diminished and the young girl was swimming peacefully. Yet, she knew she could not slow down for the men would not simply give up. They were probably already swimming behind her, ready to pursue again. She soon reached the shallow end and as she thrusted her head out of the water, a bullet raced right past her shoulder. She shrieked in surprise and looked around. Three men emerged from the water, their hair wet and their faces red with rage. Her face became pale and turning around, the girl quickly stumbled through the water as fast as she could.

"Help!" she cried out hoping someone might hear. "Help please!" A fisherman was fishing at the shore and hearing her cry of help he immediately dropped his fishing line and waded towards her.

"Hold on," he cried, "I'll save you." The girl cried in terror as she raced towards him. The man held out a hand and she reached to grab it when suddenly a gun sounded and the man in front of her stopped and dropped forward dead. Screaming, the girl stumbled back as the man splashed into the water. Tripping, she fell backwards into the water and knocked hit herself against a hard rock. Grimacing in pain, she closed her eyes tight and waited for the gunshot. It did not come. Slowly, she peeked out of one eye and looked around. The men were gone. Where, she didn't know. Whether this was a blessing or an omen, she couldn't tell. The girl crawled onto her knees breathing heavily staring at the dead man. His blood had now contaminated the water around it and feeling weak, the girl leaned against the rock. Pain throbbed in her back and neck but she took no notice. The innocent man was dead and simply because he tried to help her. She was not sure it was her pursuers but nevertheless it was her fault this man was dead.

The girl knelt there for seconds just staring at the man when she felt a strange feeling, as if someone was behind her. Frightened, the girl did not look around but merely pushed herself up. There was definitely someone behind her but she was too frightened to turn around. "Who are you?" she whispered.

"It isn't a matter of who I am but why I'm here." the stranger said. He was obviously a boy in his early twenties based on his voice. It was husky and the small girl took a small gulp.

"Why are you here?" the girl asked. There was silence. The girl straightened herself and looked towards the land where the fisherman had been. "What do you want?"

"I've come to take you," came the husky answer. She waited for him to continue. "Perhaps 'take' isn't the right word. I'm here upon my father's request to hm… I guess lead you."

"Lead me where?" she said simply. She closed her eyes as the boy fell silent yet again. She waited tensely for him to speak and when he did, it was in a hush quiet voice. "I'm taking you…away from here…"


	2. Chapter 1

"Charlie Bone!! Come down this moment! You'll be late for the bus again!!" Grandma Bone's voice boomed through the house. Grandma Bone was not in the slightest bit, the happiest person on earth at the moment. Ever since his father and mother had returned from their honeymoon, Grandma Bone has been actually, very moody. Charlie sometimes even wondered why he had chosen to stay here in this house, instead of moving to Diamond Cottage, where his parents know lived. It was probably because of the location of this house, Charlie concluded. It was near Benjamin's house and it was quite close to town. Within five minutes, Charlie could walk to the Pet's Café or Ingledew's Bookstore. Uncle Paton and Maisie still lived here as well so that was plus. Charlie didn't know how he would survive living in the same house as Grandma Bone if it wasn't for those two.

Maisie was his other grandma as well as the opposite of Grandma Bone. Maisie was short and tried hard to keep her weight down. Being the family cook, this wasn't easy. Unlike Grandma Bone, Maisie never did more than chide gently Charlie for something he did wrong. Even when chiding him, Charlie could tell that Maisie was never really angry, more like exasperated. She rarely found any fault in Charlie's doing. She just merely wished he was a bit less curious and used his head more. Contrary to this, Grandma Bone found fault with every single little thing Charlie did. Even when Charlie was doing his homework Grandma Bone had something to complain about.

Charlie looked in the mirror, his hair was still looking like a tornado ran through it. True, Charlie had changed a bit, considering he is now a teenager, however, his hair hasn't changed with the rest of his body. It was still a big tangled mess which was impossible to ground down. Charlie gave one big tug with his comb and gave up. If his hair was ever going to look normal, it would do it itself. Running down the stairs, Charlie nearly skidded into Maisie.

"Sorry Maisie." He said hurriedly. He threw his bag onto the table and practically shoved his books into it.

"You do well to keep out of trouble this term, Charlie Bone. Don't look for trouble, my dear." Maisie said.

"Yes, yes, of course I will." Charlie said absentmindedly. What would he do otherwise? He never went looking for trouble, it always found him. How and why, he had no answer. Suddenly a scream came from inside the kitchen. Charlie and Maisie raced to the kitchen to see Grandma Bone up on the table hitting a big dog with a sausage.

"Grandma Bone! It's just Ben and Runner Bean." Charlie said trying hard not to laugh.

"Get that mangy mutt away from me. I'm not coming down till you do."

"Good. You can stay up there," Charlie smiled, "Come on Ben. Why'd you come from the side door anyway?"

"Come on, Runner. It's all right. That's just Grandma Bone. Nothing to get worked up about." Benjamin, himself, was trying hard not to laugh and badly failing.

"Run along boys." Maisie said, "I'll deal with her. Charlie, you'd better get ready. Bus comes in 10 minutes."

Charlie cast one last look at Grandma Bone on the kitchen table, terrified. How funny she looked, especially with the sausage in her hand. "I knew the bus wasn't coming soon. What was she talking about? I had plenty of time," he grumbled to himself as he repacked his bag.

"What d' you mean?" Benjamin asked as Runner quietly lay down, tired from the brief excitement.

"She was complaining that I was going to be late for my bus… again. But I've never been late for it before and all I was doing was trying to fix my hair."

"I see it didn't get any better did it? You really haven't changed a lot." Benjamin said suppressing a giggle.

"It's not funny," Charlie cried indignantly. "You try having hair as wild as mine. It just doesn't work. It's a pain. Speaking of change, what brings you here?"

"Well I don't want you to leave until you've said goodbye to me, now would I?" Benjamin said grinning, his toothy smile.

Charlie couldn't help but smile. Benjamin was that kind of friend, always there to cheer you up when you're down. It reminded him a bit of Fidelio as well. Fidelio and Benjamin were a lot alike, despite the fact that they went to different schools but they were both Charlie's best friends. Friends, Charlie missed his other friends as well. Emma, Olivia, Tancred, Lysander, Gabriel… Billy. Charlie suddenly felt really excited to go back to Bloor's. He wanted to see Billy and ask him about his new adoptive parents… Mr. and Mrs. Onimous. Who knew they would end up adopting Billy.

"Hi Mr. Yewbeam," Benjamin said, breaking into Charlie's thoughts. "Where are you headed today?"

"Where else my dear lad?" Paton chuckled, "I'm off to see Julia at the bookstore."

"Oooo," Benjamin said grinning. He cast a look at Charlie as Paton rushed out the door. "Why doesn't he just ask her to marry him, Charlie?"

"I don't know. Every one of my friend's asked me that too, even Billy," Charlie said laughing. He heaved a big sigh as he remembered Billy's excitement when he found out he was to be adopted.

"Hey," Benjamin said breaking into Charlie's thoughts yet again, "Why don't you just hurry up and leave for Bloor's then, since you miss them so much?"

Charlie looked at Benjamin and immediately felt guilty. Though he sounded happy, Charlie knew that he must be feeling a sense of rejection or doubt.

"I'm sorry, Ben. You know you're my best friend. It's just that I haven't seen them in a while and I'm kind of looking forward to hearing their news."

"Naw, don't worry about it." Benjamin said solemnly. Charlie, then felt extremely guilty. He'll get to see his friends from Bloor's everyday not that term is starting. How come he couldn't even have a tiny empathy for Benjamin's feelings? However, he didn't get much time to feel regret, for Benjamin quickly looked in the kitchen, and then pulled Charlie into the living room. "Actually, there's another reason I came here."

"Oh, what's that?" Charlie asked surprised. What could Ben possibly have to tell him?

"I had a dream today…"

"Oh..." Charlie said a bit downhearted. He was looking forward to something more… epic.

"No wait, just hear me out." Benjamin said, "I think my dream has something to do with Bloor's."

Charlie perked up at the word, Bloor's. "I'm listening."

"Charlie!! 5 minutes!" a voice came from the kitchen.

"I'll tell you quickly, then." Benjamin said urgently, "In my dream, I was standing in the middle of the street and then I saw this girl about Billy's age appear. She was bleeding badly and behind her was a very scary looking man…"

"Charlie! 2 minutes!"

"Wait," Benjamin cried as Charlie turned to leave the room, "This man was hurting her Charlie. I don't know how, he wasn't beating or doing anything. I think he might be endowed. He was hurting her and he said, "You dare disobey me Rhiannon?! Haven't I warned you enough times?"

"Who's Rhiannon?"

"I don't know but like I said before I think it has something to do with Bloor's. I think you might run into trouble this term."

"Don't I always." Charlie said rolling his eyes.

"You're not taking this seriously," Benjamin said.

"I am," Charlie said, "I have to go. I'll keep that in mind. Don't worry. I'll tell you everything on the weekend. Maybe you could come to Pet's Café this weekend too."

"All right," Benjamin said. Sighing, he followed Charlie out and called to Runner. Sleepily, Runner opened an eye. Benjamin called him a second time and immediately Runner jumped up and padded quietly behind him.

"Bye Charlie," Benjamin said as the bus came to a stop.

"See you soon Ben!" Charlie waved at the thirteen year old standing at his doorsteps with his dogs. Somehow, as he stepped into the bus, he couldn't help but feel something about Benjamin's dream was real. It was a dream though, dreams don't come true… _do they?_

*****

It hadn't taken Manfred long to wonder whether he should have a different life other then living here in Bloor's his entire life. During the summer, he had insisted to leave this dingy castle and take a well earned vacation. When he made this proposal, however, he did not know he would meet the love of his life. Never had he ever felt this way about any girl before, even Zelda didn't come close. He first saw met her at a beach, on a tour. The moment she stepped onto the tour bus it was love at first sight for Manfred, with her long flowing blonde hair and her sweet, soft voice. Manfred remembered her well and throughout the whole tour, they had travel together. They took pictures with each other and for each other and Manfred found himself sharing everything with her, even the secret that he was endowed. She didn't care, in fact she thought it was neat that he could hypnotize people. She was feisty, that's what Manfred like about her, not only was she gorgeous, she was a feisty girl with a fiery personality.

Now the summer was over, and Manfred was back in this dingy castle. Lounging on his chair, Manfred stared nostalgically at the picture on his mantle above the fireplace. It was a picture of the two the day before they parted. That was the happiest day of Manfred's life. Never had he ever felt the way he did that day. That day, he had had his very first kiss and it was the best kiss he had ever had. So passionate, so wonderfully, how he missed the summer. Now all he could do was recall those memories and hope she didn't forget him. It was unlikely that she would remember him, who knew when they would next meet. Ten years, twenty years, never? Oh the thought of never seeing her again was enough to break his heart.

Suddenly, the door opened, interrupting Manfred's thoughts. Manfred gave a sigh. It was his father which meant the news wouldn't be good. As expected his father said four curt words, "Your grandfather wants you." What could grandfather possibly want with him? He was losing his power and his grandfather had better allies to call upon, why him. "Fine," he said. Manfred heard his father close the door and slowly walk away. As the footsteps faded, Manfred reluctantly pushed himself up from his chair. _How bothersome._ he thought.

Opening the door, he slowly, absentmindedly headed for his grandfather's room. Stopping in front of the door, he wondered what his grandfather possibly had to say to him. Knocking, he heard a feeble "come in". Pushing the door open, he saw a small little disfigured thing in the middle. "Sit," the thing commanded. Slowly, Manfred grabbed a chair and sat down._ Honestly,_ he thought, _why wasn't his grandfather dead by now? Surely, he's passed his dying age. Just look at him. _

"Why have you called me, grandfather?" he asked politely though his brain was screaming out in frustration.

"I have called you here today to ask you a favor." Ezekial moved into the light so Manfred could now clearly see his face and body. '_Disgusting,'_ he thought.

"Oh, and what is the favor?"

"The favor… is…" Ezekial's voice quavered a bit as he reached into a pocket. Grabbing something, Ezekial's hand shook as he showed his grandson the thing. "This is a letter."

"Ok…"

"I need you to deliver it to somebody for me."

"Who's it for?" Manfred asked growing interested.

"It is for a young girl named Melanie Wilson. She will be new this year and she is endowed. You need not to read it, just pass it on to her."

"Why couldn't you do it yourself when she arrives? The buses come in just a few minutes."

"Do you not see me?!" Ezekial's voice suddenly rose, "Do you think I am able to move around so swiftly as I once had? If I merely leave this chair I may die. I can hardly move."

"Then why don't you go and die? Stop trying to plot and just give it up, grandfather." Manfred cried. Immediately having said it, he regretted it.

"How dare you say such a thing to me, your grandfather? You will be punished severely for saying that my dear boy! Out!" Ezekial's hand flew into the air as he pointed to the door. Manfred did not need a second invitation. He shot up from his chair and stormed out. He did not care for his grandfather no longer and he found it wearisome to have to take care of such an old, feeble man. Besides, he was his grandfather, not father. Dr. Bloor should have to take care of him. As far as he was concerned, Manfred no longer wanted his grandfather around and his stupid little plots. Manfred was growing weary of this castle and he was growing weary of Ezekial's obsession over Charlie. Let Charlie live his own life, Manfred decided. He would no longer listen to his grandfather.

*****

As the bus came to a halt, Charlie felt his stomach flip, out of excitement or nervousness, he could not tell. Grabbing his bag, Charlie followed Fidelio off of the bus. Almost immediately after setting a foot on the ground, a "Charlie! Charlie!" rose from the air. Charlie turned his head in response, looking for the speaker. Who else could it have been, but Billy Raven? Charlie waved gleefully. This was the first time Billy had ever sounded this exciting.

"Billy sure sounds excited doesn't he?" Fidelio asked, nudging Charlie amusedly.

"He's sure changed since the Onimouses adopted him." Gabriel agreed.

As the three headed for the academy, Billy raced towards them. "Hey," he said breathlessly. "How are you?!"

"We're fine, Billy. Seems like you've had a nice summer," Charlie replied, smiling at the younger boy's excitement.

"I had such a great summer. At least, it was better then the many summers I've had here at Bloor's." Billy cried. Rapidly, he began to recount his summer for the three older boys. "Una is so funny, you guys. She's such a prankster. The entire summer was just me trying to explain to her the importance of her endowment but she just kept thinking it was a toy. Of course it didn't bother me, I've never had a sister and the Onimouses actually allowed me to watch over her when they left for a day or so. I'm telling you it's fantastic living in the Pet's Café. I get to talk to the animals all day and I get to be with Rembrandt every day… except it does sometimes get tiring when all the animals are talking at once. So... what's." Suddenly, Billy ran into a jet black haired girl causing her to drop her books.

"Sorry," Billy said. He bent down to help the girl but was blocked by the girl.

"I don't need your help," the girl said coldly. Billy looked up in surprise and locked eyes with the girl. A chill ran down Billy's spine as he saw the cold, blank eyes. However, blinking in surprise, Billy saw something else shine through. Loneliness.

"Do I know you?" Billy asked slowly. Something seemed vaguely familiar about this girl. He just couldn't put his finger on it… what was it?

"No," the girl said. "I'm new here." The girl quickly gathered her books and walked away. Billy stared on after her, confused. _Who is that strange girl?_ Suddenly, he felt a jerk on his right arm. Shaking himself he looked up.

"Come on, Billy." Charlie said as Gabriel gave his arm another tug. "We have to go to the assembly and you've already stared long enough at her."

"Ok…" Billy said as he slowly stood up. Shaking his head one last time, Billy gathered his book bag. He allowed the three older boys to walk in front of him as he lagged behind. Something about the girl troubled him… what was it?

"Oi! Billy! You coming?" Fidelio asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Coming." Billy said softly. He followed the three boys into the assembly hall.

"I have to go to the drama section now," he said disappointedly. "See you guys later?"

"'Course." Fidelio said. "See you later Billy."

"See you!" Billy cried. He gave a wave and quickly made his way to the drama section. Seeking Olivia, Billy walked towards her.

"Hey Olivia." He smiled. He wasn't as excited as he was earlier, instead he was more preoccupied with that strange, mysterious girl he had bumped into earlier.

"Hey Billy. How was your summer?" Olivia greeted him. Today, her hair was dyed black with red streaks. Her hair was tied in braids and Billy smiled warmly. She wore a mini, goth like outfit and big cow boots.

"I like your costume. Very cute. Who are you today?"

"I'm a little goth girl of course. Can't you tell?" Olivia teased. She spun around as if showing off.

"Of course." Billy said laughing. Olivia stopped and smiled. _Billy sure has changed since his adoptions. I guess the Onimouses are doing a good job._

"So how was your summer Billy?" Olivia repeated, eager to hear what he had to say.

"It was the best I've ever had. Way better than staying here at Bloor's… I" Billy began, but before he could continue Mrs. Marlowe walked by them and gave them a nice "Shhh…"

"I'll tell you later," Billy whispered. Olivia nodded and the pair pulled their chairs out and sat down in silence Soon, the assembly hall fell silent, waiting for the assembly to begin. Dr. Bloor walked onto the stage and began speaking. As usual, the assembly was boring. Billy absolutely hated this assembly. He found Dr. Bloor spoke in such a drawling tone and he always spoke of the same thing. He always welcomed the new students and what will happen this term… yadda yadda yadda. Nothing exciting was ever spoken in the assembly and Billy slowly found himself thinking about the strange girl, yet again. _Who is she? Why do I keep thinking about her? _There was something vaguely familiar and unnerving about her. Dr. Bloor's voice began to fade, until it disappeared altogether and Billy found himself in the perfect world with people who cared. _Matilda, Una, Mr. and Mrs. Onimous… *sigh* If only he could see Matilda again. How he missed her._

"Billy," someone was calling him in the distance. "Billy." There it was again. Now that person was shaking him. Who on earth was it?

"Billy, snap out of it." Billy blinked his eyes, his world faded and he found himself back at Bloors. Turning his head he saw Olivia's hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Billy. Assembly's over." Olivia said. Shaking himself, Billy grabbed his bag and followed her as they piled into the crowd to leave the assembly. They followed the crowd out of the assembly and into the great flagstone hall. Billy followed Olivia into the drama coatroom, but not catching a glimpse of the girl walking towards the crossed paintbrushes, indicating the art cloakroom. _So she's in art. _Absentmindedly, Billy hung his cloak on a peg.

"I'll see you first break, Billy." Olivia said, "I expect to hear everything about your summer." Billy nodded and watched her leave. For once, he looked forward to this term… to go to the Pet's Café on weekends, to have such loving adoptive parents. He wondered, what was in store for the Children of the Red King this term?

As Billy walked into his first class, history, his thoughts were immediately drawn to the girl again, for there sitting in front of him was the girl. Taking a big breath, Billy walked towards her and sat down beside her. Maybe he could get her to talk, at least more than she did earlier.

"Hi there," Billy said tentatively. The girl turned towards him and for the first time Billy was able to take a good look at her. Her facial expression was no longer as hard as it was earlier, instead it was blanker.

"Hi," she said curtly.

"Um… what's your name?" Billy asked and was caught off guard when the young girl shrugged.

"Do you have a name?" He asked. Immediately, he regretted saying it because the girl immediately turned an indignant face, "Of course I do." she replied, "I just don't want to give it to you. You have a problem with that?"

As Billy searched for an answer, the girl shot her attention back to the front. Confused, Billy tried again. "What I mean is, I'd like to know your name so you know… we could become friends."

"I don't need friends." the girl said stonily.

"Everyone needs friends. I would know," Billy said softly remembering those awful earlier years when he was tormented and rejected by everyone, "It's just a matter of whether you want them. No matter how hard you insist that you don't need friends, everyone needs one."

The girl turned to face Billy. Her face was blank but yet Billy knew he had touched a nerve. "I'm Rhiannon." she said softly.

"I'm Billy." Billy stuck out his hand and Rhiannon took it. A few seconds later, the teacher strolled on in and both kids turned their attention the teacher. The teacher placed his bag onto his chair and began taking the roll. This teacher did not seem too bad, he wasn't boring and drawling but he wasn't so bubbly that you wanted to slap him. He was ok, Billy thought.

As the teacher began explaining his procedures and expectations, Billy felt extremely awkward sitting next to Rhiannon. She seemed so… robotic. She just sat there, as still as stone.

Finally, the horn sounded, announcing the end of the class. Billy quickly got up and went over to Rhiannon.

"What do you want?" Rhiannon asked packing her bag. Slinging it over her shoulder she stood there, looking at Billy [I can't find the word at the moment].

"Nothing, I… I just wanted to know…" Billy again struggled to find words. What did he want to ask her?

As if reading his mind Rhiannon replied, "Look, there's nothing I want to tell you ok?" Her tone changed. "I… I'm just going through a lot ok and you can't help me. No one can." She swiftly turned and rushed for the door.

_What does she mean by that?_ Billy wondered. He quickly followed her out the door, as he was the only one in the room and he would be late for his next class if he did not hurry. _I wonder…_ Billy turned a corner and immediately ran into Emma. Billy fell on top of Emma and quickly got up surprised.

"Sorry, Emma." he said hurriedly, "I've been running into everybody today, it seems like."

"It's ok, Billy." Emma said picking herself up. "So, what's new?"

"Nothing much," Billy said. _Should he tell her about Rhiannon? Perhaps he should._ "There's this new girl that I keep thinking about… I guess."

"Don't tell me Billy has a little crush.." Emma said jokingly.

"No!" Billy cried indignantly. "It's just that she seems vaguely familiar and I can't figure out why. Also, she's not exactly the bubbly type. She's so cold and withdrawn but somehow I think that's not really her… I don't know. It's confusing. Her name's Rhiannon and she has long jet black hair with brown eyes. She's my age I guess but her face contradicts her attitude. When you first look at her, she seems so sweet and innocent… but then, she hardens her face when you try to talk to her. I don't understand."

"Why don't you just forget about her." Emma suggested.

"You don't think I've tried?" Billy cried, "She just keeps entering my mind. She's hiding something and I can't figure it out." Emma merely shrugged and this frustrated Billy even more. How dare she take this as a joke. Usually Emma was so sweet and sincere. Now she was acting like she had better things to do and didn't care.

"Look," Emma said, her voice softening, "You can't always figure out what everyone is thinking. Everyone is entitled to his or her secrets. You get what I mean? She's not going to tell a stranger her secrets." Billy simply grunted. _Stop treating me like a little kid. I'm twelve now. _Billy sauntered off without saying goodbye._ This term will be interested, _he thought, _and she's going to be one of the reasons why. Doesn't matter what Em says, I know there's something she's hiding and I know I've seen her somewhere._


	3. Chapter 2

**Here's another chapter uploaded. It seems as if no one wants to review. -sigh- I guess that's typical... at least for me anyways. Enjoy... to those who actually read it.**

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Watching Billy leave frustrated made Emma confused. What had she said to make him act so? She just told him to forget about the girl; perhaps that was like telling herself to forget about Tancred. Was that how Billy felt? No matter how hard he tried he just couldn't get her out of his mind? Emma did not know. She just merely knew that this girl was not normal.

As Emma walked into her painting class, she received a huge surprise. There was the girl, Billy was talking about moments ago. Realizing she was the last one in, Emma quickly found a seat next to a dark browned hair girl.

"Hi, I'm Emma." she whispered to the dark browned hair girl. The girl glanced over her shoulder and without acknowledging Emma's prescience turned back around._ Hm… How rude. _ Emma took out her sketchbook as she listened to her teacher speak. As the teacher began taking roll, Emma doodled in her sketchbook. Suddenly, a name or two caught her attention. _Rhiannon Benson and Melanie Wilson_. Looking up, Emma saw the girl beside her say 'Here' when the name Melanie Wilson was mentioned. _So she's Melanie., huh? What a jerk._

"All right students, welcome to your first painting class." the teacher said smiling, "My name is Miss. Lina and today partner up and we are going to begin with a short warm up." Emma placed her sketchbook into her bag and turned to face Miss. Lina.

"Each day we will do a small warm up to get your creative juices flowing. Today's warm up is to simply paint a shape in different colors." Miss. Lina said. "For example, let's say you want to draw a circle." Miss. Lina picked up a marker and drew many circles on the whiteboard. Grabbing a different color, the teacher colored one of the circles, and then, grabbing another color, colored another circle. "You will simply continue to do this until you've filled in all the shapes on the page. After that, add a second color to each shape. You can not add the same color to the shape. Keep doing it until you can no longer add a color without making it a dirty color. Paper and the brushes and paint are up here. Water is in the front and in the back."

Emma stood up to gather her supplies. At this same moment she saw Melanie, on her right, stand up swiftly and speed across the room swiftly grabbing her supplies. _Super speed? _Emma watched as Melanie took unscrewed the painting cans and carefully dipped her brush into on of the cans. Walking to the front, she saw Rhiannon debating what colors to choose.

"What shape are you going to do Rhiannon?" Emma asked trying to strike a conversation.

"A triangle," Rhiannon said distantly. Emma watched as she floated back to her seat. _Billy is right, something's strange about her… and Melanie too._ Emma turned her attention back to her blank canvas. Opening a blue container, Emma carefully dipped her brush into the thick paint. Emma pressed the brush onto the canvas and began painting. As she painted this simple warm up, she began to felt at home. Art was her life and she enjoyed every minute of it. She had no idea what she would do if she could not paint. Emma was about to dip her brush into the color pink when all of a sudden she heard a scream on her left side and a crash.

Turning around, she saw Rhiannon standing up with paint on her shirt and canvas. Broken container pieces laid on the floor with blue paint spilled around it. Rhiannon looked horrified, but then her horror turned to rage as she snapped towards Melanie.

"Why on earth would you do that Melanie? You horrible creep!" Melanie laid her brush down and leaned back in her chair, yawning. This only infuriated Rhiannon more and Rhiannon shot her such a mutinous look it could've killed, if looks could kill. Melanie paid no attention and Rhiannon stomped over to her desk. Swiftly, Rhiannon swiped the containers on Melanie's table off. Jumping up, Melanie grabbed Rhiannon by the collar, "Why the hell did you do that for Rhia?"

"You did it to me first, with your dumb telekinesis powers!" Rhiannon shouted. She brushed Melanie's hand off of her and pushed her onto the desk, causing Melanie to fall over the desk. Emma backed away in shock. _How could this happen on the first day?_ Emma walked towards Rhiannon to pull her back. Melanie was on the floor, obviously in pain, while Rhiannon's face grew red with fury as she walked slowly towards her, preparing for the next blow. However, Miss. Lina got to her first and fiercely pulled her by the arm.

"Rhiannon! I'm ashamed with you. I understand you are new here at Bloor's but please! Under no circumstances should you be acting like this."

"She started it ma'am!" Rhiannon shouted. She was furious and frustrated. Emma watched as the cold hard girl she had met earlier was now fiery and violent.

"Your paint container spilt and crashed to the floor," the teacher said calmly, "That has nothing to do with Melanie, dear."

"It has everything to do with her. She's never liked me and she's always using her powers on me. She did it on purpose." Rhiannon cried, gesturing angrily. For a second, Emma thought Miss. Lina might have lost all control but to her surprise, the teacher merely heaved a sigh and said authoritatively, "Rhiannon, please leave my classroom. You are to stand out there and not wonder. I will speak to you shortly, after I have dealt with this mess." Rhiannon glared at her for the longest time, Emma thought she would refuse, but after some seconds, Rhiannon whipped her head around and headed for the door, acting as if she did not care. As Rhiannon made her way, Emma caught a quick glimpse of disgust from her meant for Melanie. Rhiannon opened the door and slammed it shut.

A moment of silence filled the room as no one could believe what had happened on the very first day of class. It seemed like no one wanted to break the silence. Everyone just simply watched Melanie as she picked herself and brushed the dust off of her. Twitching her lip, Melanie stared down at her paint filled shirt. Finally, a young girl spoke from the group. "Ma'am," she said softly, "What's going to happen now?"

Heaving a sigh, Miss. Lina said, "Well, you girls will continue with your warm up and as soon as you're done with it, you may be dismissed early." Excitement filled the air as many of the girls spoke eagerly of being dismissed early on the very first day. "Melanie," Miss. Lina continued, "it'd be best if you went off to wash whatever paint you can wash off. Girls, be sure to work quietly and diligently. I'm going to go out to talk to Rhiannon for a while." Miss. Lina gave an approving nod and headed for the door.

As other girls hurried around to continue their warm up, so as to get dismissed early, Emma stayed where she was. She slowly walked to her desk but however try she might, she simply could not focus. She looked up and saw that Melanie was sitting at her desk, playing with her hair. She wore a smug look, as if she was proud of what she had done. Turning to face her Emma said, "So Melanie, you're endowed then."

"Yes I am," Melanie said indifferently. She just sat there, leaning back on the chair, twirling her hair, daydreaming.

"And.. I'm guessing your power is telekinesis."

"Yes.. and no."

"Huh?" Emma asked taken aback, "What do you mean?"

Melanie stopped twirling her hair and let her chair drop onto the floor. Leaning close to Emma she said, "It means, you shouldn't be so nosy. I am telekinetic but that's not the only power I possess."

"Oh.. well you have super speed too then right?"

Melanie raised an eyebrow and tipped her chair back again. "What does it matter if I have it or not?"

"Um… well…"

"You've asked enough questions about me, Emma." she said smoothly, "Now, I want to ask you some questions."

"Um… ok…" Emma said slowly. She desperately wished the horn will sound.

*****

"It's not my fault," Rhiannon cried to herself angrily, "That little flea-bitten thing did it. Why is she here anyway?" Suddenly, the door behind her opened and Rhiannon looked away insolently as the teacher came out. She didn't want to be told off by a teacher for something she wasn't even responsible for. Sure she threw Melanie on the floor but that hardly counted.

"Rhiannon, dear" Miss. Lina said in a soft tone. _Oh give it a rest. _"Do you know why you are out here."

"I told you. Don't call me that," Rhiannon said glaring into Miss. Lina's eyes.

"I'm sorry," Miss Lina looked down and then looked up. _Yeah, I bet you're not. _"Rhiannon, do you know why you are out here?"

Rhiannon pretended to think hard. It would be best if she just bit her tongue for now and told her what she wanted to hear. She'll get Melanie back later. "Yes, Miss." she said very quietly, "I pushed Melanie on the floor and I'm really really sorry. I just got angry. I'll never do it again."

"Just because you were angry doesn't mean you should have pushed her. You must refrain yourself next time. Do you understand."

Rhiannon avoided Miss. Lina's eyes and said slowly, "Yes, Miss. I do and I'm dreadfully sorry."

Suddenly, the door slammed open as some children pushed their way out, excitedly talking.

Rhiannon stared at them disdainfully as one girl excitedly said, "Can you believe what happened today? On the first day too!" The girl, as she spoke, turned to shoot Rhiannon a smug look. In response, Rhiannon shot back a witch like expression as she heard Miss. Lina gently scold them, "Girls, class is still in session. Please refrain from speaking."

"Yes ma'am," two of the girls responded simultaneously, the girl who shot Rhiannon the look and her equally obnoxious friend. Realizing this, they both said "Ooo," at the same time and high fived each other.

Rolling her eyes, Rhiannon watched as they walked away, giggling like a bunch of fangirls. "Can I head back to the class now?" She asked Miss. Lina. She waited as the teacher heaved a big sight. _How can I become enemies with a teacher on the very first day? Was that even possible? _Apparently it was, for she had just done it.

"Yes, I suppose you should. Class is going to end soon anyway," Miss Lina said as more girls left the room. "I hope there won't be a repeat of today anytime soon," Miss Lina said warningly as Rhiannon reached for the doorknob. Rolling her eyes, she opened the door. She walked slowly to her desk, well aware of all the eyes staring at her. No one was working anymore but instead, merely talking… most likely about her.

Reaching for her bag, the horn sounded. The other girls quickly picked up their bags and rushed out the door. Rhia piled her books into her bag and screwed on the caps to the paint containers. The room was no empty, even the teacher had left. As Rhia searched the room for a broom and dustbin, something caught her eye. A girl was by her desk, wiping the floor. Curiously, Rhia walked up to her and saw that it was the girl named Emma who had sat next to her in class. _Why was she still here? _

"Hi," Rhia said slowly. The girl stopped wiping and looked up. She smiled. "Um… what are you doing here? It's break."

"I'm simply helping you clean up. You shouldn't do it on your own. It wasn't your fault." The girl continued wiping the floor free of paint.

"But why?" Rhia asked confused. No one had ever offered to do something like this for her. They always wanted something in return. What did she want? "What's in it for you?"

"Nothing's in it for me," the girl simply replied, "I just really want to help. I hate not helping someone so I usually try to help when I can. Why?" The girl stood up and looked Rhia in the eye.

"No reason," Rhia shrugged and headed for the sink to grab some more paper towels. Handing the paper towels to Emma Rhia searched for the broom. _Where was it? It had to be somewhere in this room._

"The broom and dustbin is over on there," Emma said pointing to the back of the room. Rhia walked over there and there it was, hidden between to cabinets in a small corner. "How the heck is anyone suppose to see that?" Rhia muttered.

"You just have to know where to look," Emma said. Rhia grimaced and brought the broom to her desk. Together, the two girls worked in silence cleaning up the desk and the area around it.

While this was happening, Rhia felt extremely uncomfortable, unsure of what to say. Constantly casting glances at Emma, she realized that Emma was perfectly comfortable with this silence. Was silence really such a bad thing? Emma finished wiping the floor and went to stand up. She took the paint containers from the desk and headed for the front. Rhia quickly threw out the broken clay pieces. Grabbing her bag from the chair, she headed for the door when suddenly she stopped. She decided to wait for Emma. After all, she had helped her, the least she could do was wait for Emma.

"Come on, Em." Rhia said softly unsure of herself.

Smiling, Emma reached for her bag and quickly ran for the door. "Thanks for waiting for me, Rhiannon." Rhia merely turned around and grabbed for the doorknob. Smiling to herself, Emma followed Rhia out the door. As she headed for the garden to meet up with the others, she knew she had done a near impossible thing. She had gotten Rhia to talk and… to smile. Something, Emma felt sure, that she has not done for a long time.


	4. Chapter 3

Emma had wasted almost half of her break but she didn't care. She had done it to help Rhia and in doing so, she was able to get her to talk and to smile. As she neared the garden she could see six boys fiercely playing soccer. She could pick out the tall African boy, Lysander, with his long black dreadlocks. He towered over the rest of the boys so he was easy to pick out. He was sixteen and inseparable from his best friend, Tancred… her crush. As Emma walked closer she saw Olivia standing by the sidelines shouting her lungs out at the boys.

"Come on Fido! Steal the ball! I could do better than that and I'm in heels! Come on! Yeah Billy! Go go!" she cheered. Emma smiled. That was Olivia for you, always so active and full of excitement. Running quickly over to Olivia, Emma dropped her bag to the ground.

"Hey Em!" Olivia said joyfully greeting her. "Why are you so late? You've missed a great game of soccer," as Billy scored a goal and the boys decided to call it quits. Being the goalie, Charlie picked up the ball and followed the rest of the boys as they headed for the girls.

"Hey Em!" Fidelio said breathlessly, "Where've you been?"

Emma laughed. It was sure good to hang with the gang again. "Olivia just asked me that. I was in painting class helping a girl clean up."

"What happened?" Charlie asked, his voice filled with interest.

"Well," Emma said slowly, "We were doing a warm up in class when the girl next to me dropped her paint container onto the ground and some spilled all over her and her painting." Looking at Billy she said, "It was Rhia, the girl you told me about earlier."

"She's in your class," Billy asked surprised.

"Yes and I don't think it was her fault either."

"Expand on that," Olivia said eagerly.

"I think it might've been a girl named Melanie. She's around sixteen and she has dark brown hair. She doesn't seem very friendly but she sure seems like a player. She acts really sweet and innocent and I'm betting you she was the one who got Rhia in trouble. I think Melanie may be endowed because she wasn't anywhere near Rhia when it happened. She was sitting on the other side of me."

"Telekinesis, do you suppose?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah, possibly. But I also think she might have super speed or something."

"What?" a boy with spiky blonde hair cried out. Emma turned to look at him and immediately her heart began to pump hard. Why must she always feel this way whenever he was near? It's not like she had never seen him or anything like that. He was one of her best friends, so why did she always feel these strange sensations? Sure, she had a crush on him but was this really necessary?

"Someone can't have two different endowments… can they?" The boy asked looking around confused.

"I don't know," Emma said, "but I do know that she has those two powers… it's strange."

"Strange…" Olivia said. She frowned her brow as she concentrated hard but then she lit up and said excitedly, "Guess what I did this summer?!"

"Great," Charlie said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and jokingly nudging Fidelio with his elbow.

"Stop it!" Fidelio said annoyed, "What was that for anyway?"

Tancred and Lysander exchanged glances and Emma couldn't help but smile. It was just like Olivia to quickly change the subject, something centered on her. _What a diva, _she thought, _she has the attention span of a two year old._

"Well, anyway, this summer my mom and I went to a pre party. There was this little acting section where anyone who had wanted to was able to go up in front of everyone and do a little monologue or something… you know just for fun..."

"How can it be just fun?" Fidelio interrupted, "You're up in front of like the famous people. What if you made a fool of yourself? Then what?"

"Why?" Olivia immediately took offense to this statement, "Are you saying I might have made a fool of myself?"

"No no," Fidelio said hurriedly, "I just simply meant… for those people… you know who weren't as good as you. What if _they_ made a fool of themselves?"

"Well…" Olivia said slowly, and then she began laughing extremely hard.

"What?" Fidelio said indignantly. "What did I say?"

"No, no, it has nothing to do with you," Olivia said laughing hard. "It was just something that happened at the party. There was this one really weird dude there and he wanted to do a monologue and it just so funny."

"What happened?" Billy and Fidelio said at the same time.

"Oh the guy just went up there and performed but like everyone in the audience was like, "OMG! You think you can act?" He was horrible and it was so funny because there was this one actress, Stephanie Adams, who just told him to stop it and leave the stage."

"What did she say?"

"She just said," Olivia went to clear her voice and did a perfect imitation, "Please, dude, you're giving everyone a headache. Just leave the stage and never come back."

"Did the guy leave?" Fidelio asked.

"Yes but then he came back on, two or three times after I think. He tried wearing different costumes but it didn't work."

"So… what's the news that you wanted to tell us then?" Lysander asked.

"Oh yeah," Olivia said grinning broadly, "So naturally I decided to go up and act right?" Everyone nodded. "Well, I did a small monologue from the play, 'Before I Die" with Evelyn Martinez and Frida Christy. And then…"

Olivia paused for suspense. Emma could feel everyone holding their breaths as they awaited the news Olivia was going to share. "And then, after the show, during the dinner section of the party, this woman came up to me and asked to sign me up to her agency!! Do you know who this woman was?" Not waiting for answer Olivia immediately said, "It was Kim Zepnik!"

"No way!" Emma exclaimed. "Kim Zepnik!"

"She's like one of the most famous agencies ever!" Charlie said in astonishment.

"Um… yeah!" Olivia said excitedly. "Isn't that amazing?! So now I"ll be able to go to more auditions and she'll be able to hook me up with projects through all her many connections."

"That's awesome, Livvy!" Emma said happily. She gave Olivia a big hug and the boys all gave her a pat or a punch.

"Oh yeah!" Olivia said once the excitement had passed, well, not quite but once it had settled down, "Billy, how was your summer?" Now everyone's attention turned to Billy and this made him very nervous.

"Yeah Billy. How was your very first summer with the Onimouses?" Lysander asked.

"Well," Billy said slowly, "It was pretty different… I mean from my other summers. The Onimouses took me lots of places. They took me to the beach and then to another country. I don't remember the name but it was really beautiful."

"How's it like living with all the animals now?" Tancred asked playfully.

"It's hard." Billy said matter-of-factly, "They're constantly talking, sometimes I can't hear myself speak… and with Una as well…"

"Yeah, how's Una like?" Charlie asked. The last time he had saw her was last year when they needed her help to transport the magic locket.

"Una is very… she's like Olivia." Billy said smiling.

"Hey!" Olivia said, "Is that meant to be an insult?"

"No, of course not," Billy said, "I'm using you as a… model you know. Because Una is very active and talkative just like you. I wouldn't want you to be quiet and… boring."

"Nice save," Tancred said. Billy cocked his head proudly. Emma stared quietly on as the group continued to speak. _Billy sure has changed._ she thought as she watched Billy excitedly recount his summer.

Then the horn sounded, signaling the end of break. Luckily it was now lunch so therefore, the group of eight was able to talk more. As they headed for the cafeteria to get in line for food, Emma lagged behind. She didn't know why but she felt kind of out of place at the moment. She couldn't tell what and was caught by surprise and Tancred appeared by her side.

"Hey Em," he said, "I haven't talked to you yet. You were really quiet on the bus this morning and you didn't say much just now. What's up?'

"Nothing's up." Emma said though she knew clear well that there was something bothering her, but she couldn't tell him, not when even she didn't know what it was. She bent her head down and stared at the floor.

"Are you sure?" Tancred asked. "It's not like you to be this quiet."

"I know," Emma said. Hesitantly she said, "there is something bothering me… but I don't know what it is."

"Well I guess I can't help you much then, huh?" Tancred asked. His voice was unusually gentle at the moment.

"I guess not," Emma said.

"Hey! I've got an idea that might cheer you up." Tancred said causing Emma to stop and look up in surprise. The two stopped just shy of the arch leading into the cafeteria.

"What's your idea?"

"I was thinking… well, maybe after classes, during that break before homework, maybe we could have a game of soccer… you know, just the two of us." This shocked Emma greatly causing her to step back and trip. Twisting in the air, Emma reached out her hand to try and break her fall. Falling flat on her face, Emma scrunched her eyes so as to prevent hot tears of embarrassment from coming out.

"Are you ok?" Tancred asked holding out his hand for her.

"Yeah, I guess I'm ok." Emma said sheepishly. She grabbed Tancred's hand and felt him strongly pull her up. Wiping the dust from her clothes she looked up into Tancred's eyes and began to blush furiously. She felt like slapping herself for acting so foolishly in front of Tancred. This was ridiculous. She had never acted like this before. Suddenly, Tancred began laugh. He tried to hold it in but failed desperately.

"What's so funny?" Emma demanded.

"Nothing." However, Tancred continued to laugh and Emma finally had the nerve to slap him hard on the shoulder. "Ow!" he exclaimed.

"Now tell me," Emma demanded. "What's so funny."

"Nothing, I was just asking myself when you became so clumsy." At this, Tancred immediately ran into the cafeteria. Feeling infuriated, Emma slowly followed him into the cafeteria. Once inside the cafeteria, she looked around for him but could not. _He must have ran into the cafeteria line or something. What a coward._ Emma made her way into the line and grabbed her lunch. Sitting herself down beside Olivia she began eating, listening to the conversation that was currently taking place. Then came Tancred looking sheepish.

"There you are!" Emma said. Everyone looked at her at this abrupt outburst.

"What just happened?" Olivia asked. "Did something happened while we were in here?

"He was laughing at me," Emma said indignantly.

"Was not!" Tancred countered.

Emma simply ignored him. The arguing would've gotten no where and she was extremely hungry, not to mention the others would have had a kick out of this, so the brief argument ended as the others continued to discuss the summer and this term. Emma simply ate in silence, listening but not speaking.

As the conversation continued, briefly touching on the Pet's Café, Manfred, the new kids etc, Lysander stood up and said, "I have to go to the art room to finish my sculpture."

"What are you building?" Billy asked.

"Just a small animal, a tiger."

"Ooo… maybe it'll save Tancred like the last ones did," Fidelio joked.

"Shut up Fido," Tancred said, "You're lucky the Flames were able to clear the water from my lungs otherwise I wouldn't be here at the moment."

"Right," Fidelio said solemnly, "Sorry. See you Sander!" As Lysander left the table, Fidelio said, "That reminds me, I have a rehearsal. Darn. I guess that's what happens when you're gifted in music."

"Forget about music, I have drama," Olivia said standing up quickly, "I'll go with you Fido. Wait for me." Together the two walked off. The table quickly fell silent for a moment before Billy said, "Guess we now know who does most of the talking."

"Yeah," Charlie agreed. "Fido and Livvy talks more then the animals at Pet's Café does, I bet."

"Close enough," Billy said shrugging his shoulders, "Hey Charlie."

"Hm…"

"Can we go to see Cook? I don't think she's busy now that the rush is over. I want to tell her about my summer."

"Sure, Billy. Let's go now then. We have plenty of time."

"I'll go with you," Gabriel said quickly. Together, the three sauntered over to the kitchen area, in search for Cook.

Watching them go Emma muttered under her breath, "Great. Now I'm all alone."

"What do you mean you're alone?" Tancred said on the other side of the table. "I'm still here aren't I? I could leave if you want to."

"Of course not!" Emma said. Emma quickly looked down at her food tray, unable to make contact with him in fear of how she might feel if she does.

For a moment, none of the two spoke and to Emma, it seemed like the longest, most awkward silences ever. Finally, Tancred decided to break the ice by sighing.

"What's that sigh for?" Emma asked looking up.

"Oh nothing," Tancred said. "Just bored and you're not saying anything."

"What should I say?"

"Well, for starters you can tell me how your summer was."

"Boring, I didn't do all that much. Just helped my aunt with the bookstore and then I went with Olivia to the beach and stuff."

"Sounds more fun that I had," Tancred muttered.

"What did you do?" Emma asked. The awkwardness had gone away and Emma felt nothing more then brotherly love for Tancred… at the moment.

"Boring stuff. Hang out with Sander, um… I don't know… other stuff. I don't remember."

"You don't remember?" Emma asked incredulously.

"Well you'd forget too if you had a boring summer."

"Whatever."

"So…" Tancred said slowly. "Do you have anywhere to go?"

"No, not right now. I'm stuck here with you." Emma joked.

"You've grown cheekier," Tancred said giving her a small punch.

"Ow,"

"That did not hurt."

"Did too."

"Whatever, you're weak then. Do you have anything to do before homework tonight?" Tancred asked casually.

"No, why?" Emma asked.

"Because I wanted to spend more time with you so since you're not busy," Tancred hesitated. Emma's stomach gave a flip as she waited for him to finish. "I was just wondering whether you'd like to play some soccer with me and Sander."

"Ok," Emma readily agreed. She was pretty good at soccer and she was just as good as the two boys so it would be a fun game. Also, she will get to spend time with Tancred and that, of course, she looked forward to.

"But right now, I want to show you something. It's pretty awesome." Tancred's eyes sparkled mysteriously.

"Ok…" Emma said slyly, her eyes sparkling at the thought of adventure.

"Well, be warned," Tancred teased, "It's not exactly awesome but cool enough." Tancred grabbed his bag and stood up and Emma quickly followed. He headed out the arch and into the garden.

"Where are we going?" Emma asked.

"You'll see," Tancred said. He led her to the very corner of the garden, where the ruin maze entrance was. Around this are were large bushes of roses. Tancred placed his bag down and gestured for Emma to come closer. Emma did so and eyed the bush curiously. She couldn't see anything.

"I don't see anything," Emma said confused. _What could Tancred possible be up to?_

"Do you remember what type of weather elements I can control?" Tancred asked.

"Um…" Emma said uncomfortably, "I know you can control the wind, snow, heat…lightening…" Her voice drifted off as she thought hard of what else he could do

"All right. Now watch this," Tancred ordered. He signaled to a nearby rose on the bush. Emma followed his instructions and watched it. Suddenly, she backed back in surprise as the rose burst into flames, disintegrating into ash. She stared in horror as the burning rose entered her mind, triggering another horrible memory. She could hear screaming and she watched as the rose was burnt to a crisp. She heard her own voice screaming in terror inside her head. "Mama, mama!" It shouted. "Mama don't leave me!"

"Tancred! What did you do?!" Emma cried in shock. "That's awful!"

"I know…" Tancred said slowly, "but isn't it awesome?!"

"What's so awesome about burning a rose?" She stared in horror as the memory intensified. The burnt, crisped rose petals slowly fell and watching in made Emma cringe in terror, shutting her eyes as if shutting out some terror.

"Nothing. It's the power Em. I can control fire." Tancred said.

"Oh great!" Emma's voice began rising, "So now you think you can just destroy everything because you have fire right? You're always abusing your powers Tancred! You never think when to use them. You just use them!" Tancred backed in surprise. _Why was Emma acting like this all of a sudden._

"Em, chill. I never said I will do any of those things. Just relax."

"I will not chill. You killed a flower and with that power you'll kill loads of other things as well I bet." Emma cried hysterically. She began shaking violently and Tancred stared in astonishment. He just wanted to share his happiness with Emma. Never had he thought that Emma would blow up like this. What had he done wrong? Tancred tried desperately to calm her down but to no avail. As a last resort, Tancred wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close.

"Em," he said, "Please calm down. I'm sorry if I scared or offended you in any way. Please just calm down and tell me what's bothering you. You know I just want to help."

Emma took a deep shuddering breath. Feeling Tancred's arms around her calmed her down greatly and she immediately felt guilty for her actions. For a while she did not speak. She tried to find a way to tell Tancred how deeply sorry she was, but she simply could not find the right words. She was confused. _Why had she reacted so strongly when he burnt the rose? The even had happened so long ago… when did Tancred get this power? … why was Tancred holding her? _She just couldn't find the answers to any of these questions, and as hard as she searched all she received was a slight mind grain. Tancred released her and took her hand.

"Are you going to say anything? If not then I want to show you something else." Tancred asked?

"I guess not…" Emma said. Tancred gave her hand a pull and Emma reluctantly allowed herself to follow him.

Tancred led her into the ancient castle. He led her into the great hallway and up the windy stairs.

"Where are we going?" Emma asked, her anger long gone, now replaced by curiosity.

"I'm going to show you the something else. I was going to do it to another rose but since you freaked when I burnt the flower, I thought maybe I could show you the thing another way. I don't know, I've only tried it a few times. We'll see."

"Um… ok," Emma said. They kept climbing the windy stairs and at one time, Emma thought they will never reach their destination. Then, as they passed two floors, the stairs become more narrower and finally, they climbed the last flight of steps. They entered a deserted room and Tancred led her to the only window in the room. Staring out, Emma saw that they must have been in one of the numerous towers here at Bloor's. Emma could see all the way down to the garden but the people she saw walking around were only as big as ants.

"Tanc.. what's…?" However, Before Emma finished, Tancred walked up besides her and pointed down at the garden.

"Just watch that part ok? I'm going to see if it works." Emma did so and what she saw made her insides melt as she watched. The grass had begun to freeze over forming a white, frosty dove. On its right, the grass began to slowly freeze to form the wards 'Emma' in a script like font.

"Aww," Emma said speechless for words. She turned around and gave Tancred a big hug. "That's so sweet Tancred."

"Thanks," Tancred said blushing, something he had never done till now.

"Way better then the flower to the ash trick." Emma joked. However Tancred didn't see it as a joke but instead took it quite serious.

"I'm sorry. It wasn't meant to be a trick. I thought you would have enjoyed it. Really I did," Tancred apologized.

This caused Emma to giggle. "I was only joking Tancred." Seeing Tancred's skeptical face she added, "Look, I'm really sorry I blew up at you. It's just… well, I've had bad memories with roses catching on fire and watching them just relights those memories."

"Oh do you care to expand?" Tancred asked empathetically. When Emma shook her head, Tancred nodded.

Emma looked out the window to avoid the awkwardness that was stirring in the air. However, when she looked out, she was disappointed to see that her dove and name had disappeared.

"Aw," she said sadly, "the dove and my name disappeared."

"Yeah, it only stays when I focus and concentrate. If I lose focus then it disappears."

"So how do you use it to fight against… say Dagbert." Emma asked.

"Well I don't need much focus when I'm fighting against Dagbert. I just need enough to create the brief attacks… but when it comes to artwork like this, that's when I have to concentrate a bit more to make it the way I want it to be."

"Oh, so you can't make permanent ice sculptures?" Emma asked a bit disappointed.

"I can," Tancred said, "I just have to concentrate hard enough until the ice… I guess, hardens or something like that."

"Oh ok. That's quite cool." Emma said, her anger and guilt long gone. Now it was just about her and Tancred being friends, having fun.

"Yep, I made some sculptures at home when I first found out. I'll bring some to Pet's Café this weekend if you want to see some. The others may like them too." he said grinning with pride.

"Yeah," Emma replied, "that'll be nice." She took out her cell phone and flipped it open to check the time. "We have three minutes left."

"Wow, time sure flies when you're having fun." Tancred said.

"Yeah," Emma agreed, "I think we'd better head on down now. We're going to be late." Nodding, Tancred grabbed his bag and followed Emma down the stairs. As they ran down the stairs in a hurry, they ran into Blessed, the old Basset Hound.

"Hey Blessed," Emma said quickly as she and Tancred ran by him. Blessed gave a mournful howl, so mournful it was enough to break any person's heart. Emma stopped in her tracks as the horn sounded, signaling the end of lunch.

"Em, come on. The horn sounded. We should get to class now."

"You go ahead, Tanc. Meet up with Sander. I'll reach my class before the horn sounds. We have like 10 minutes so I'll be fine." Emma replied kneeling beside the moaning dog.

"All right, don't forget about soccer tonight."

"I wont," Tancred smiled, as the young girl responded softly, her focus on the homely dog. "See you later," he said and quickly turned around. He ran out through the grand hall, towards the art room. As he ran past the art rooms, he cast a glance into one of the rooms and immediately spotted Lysander. Catching his eye, Tancred mouthed the words, "hurry up." Lysander quickly nodded and went off to finish returning his supplies. Tancred impatiently waited, dreading his teacher's reaction if they were late.

"Hurry up, Sander! We'll be late," Tancred cried as Lysander finally grabbed his bag and came out. Nodding, Lysander quickly ran straight, in the direction of their chemistry class. Tancred was not far behind. Then, the horn sounded.

"Crap!" Tancred said. "Hurry up!" he cried. Sprinting the last stretch, he reached the door breathless with Lysander close behind.

"You're late," the teacher scowled as they entered, "I should expect with a ten minute chance to get here you'd be well on time."

"So sorry, sir," Tancred quickly said. The teacher motioned to their lab tables and said, "Get started then. The instructions are on the table and I expect it to be finished by the time you leave this class today."

Tancred and Lysander quickly dropped their bags at the leg of the table and put on their goggles and lab coats. Luckily, none of the other students paid much attention to them as they were busily working.

"So…" Lysander said as he bent down to read the instructions.

"What do you mean by so…?" Tancred asked, dreading the answer he already knew.

"Oh you know what I mean. I want to hear everything." Lysander said nonchalantly.

Tancred smiled. He grabbed a beaker and filled it with a chemical. Lowering his voice, he began telling Lysander everything.


	5. Chapter 4

As Charlie, Billy, and Gabriel set off to find Cook, Billy felt a bit queer. Something told him an animal was in danger. This didn't worry him so much as this strange feeling told him it was an animal he knew. This frightened him a lot, what if it was Rembrandt, or Solomon, or Blessed, or any of Gabriel's guinea pigs? He knew so many animals it was hard to figure out which one might be in danger.

"Have you seen Cook?" Gabriel asked one of the kitchen ladies. The lady gave the three bowls a sour look but pointed to the right. Slowly walking away, Charlie whispered to them, "She must be in her secret room."

"Let's go see." Gabriel said. The three boys continued on their way, stopping in front of a bookshelf. Looking behind them, Charlie pulled out one of the books on the shelf and slowly but steadily, the shelf slid to the right showing a big, antique room. To the right was a giant hearth and in front of it sat Cook in her own thoughts.

"Cook," Billy said happily. He ran up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Cook gave a start but relaxed when she saw who the unexpected guests were.

"My, Billy. You gave me a scare there for a moment." Cook said breathlessly. Her eyes fell on the other two briefly then returned to Billy's excited face. "What brings you here my boys?" she asked.

"We just wanted to see you Cook." Billy said sitting himself on a nearby stool. Gabriel and Charlie sat in a chair, either side of Cook and Billy.

"And… we also wanted to hear news from you as well." Charlie added.

"Ah yes. Tell me Billy. How was your very first summer being adopted?" Cook asked. She leaned forward towards Billy.

It seemed as if Billy was just simply dying to tell her for he immediately poured out everything little detail about his summer. He told her about Una and the Onimouses. He told her about life in Pet's Café. He told her where he went and what he did. It seemed to Charlie that he and Gabriel just sat there for hours as Billy went on and on about his vacation. Just when he thought Billy would never stop, Billy took a deep breath and said, "That's about all I did. It was really great though." He stared up at Cook as if waiting for approval. Cook smiled and gave a slight nod.

"That's great Billy. I'm so happy for you. Finally, at long last you have a loving family." However, as she said this, Charlie noticed a hint of distress or sadness in her voice. He glanced over at Gabriel and saw that he was thinking the same thing.

"Cook," he said. Cook wearily turned to him. "Is… is something bothering you?"

"I'm sorry, Charlie." Cook said. She leaned her head against the headrest. "I've just had a lot going on and I'm more tired then I could possibly imagine. You three have to watch out for each other, do you understand me? Watch your friends as well."

"Of course we will," Charlie said. _What could she possibly mean by that? What has she been doing? _Unfortunately, it seemed as if Billy was wondering the same thing, though he said it a bit tactless.

"What have you been doing over this summer then Cook?" Billy looked curiously up at Cook. Cook smiled and raised her head.

"I've been busy Billy. I've been searching around the castle for clues and hints about the history of you children of the Red King."

"And did you find any?" Billy asked, his eyes filed with excitement.

"Indeed, I found some, though I did not wish I did."

"And why is that Cook?" Gabriel asked. He was now sitting close to the left hand rest, leaning on it interestedly.

"Well I have found a lot of great information but…" Cook hesitated looking into the crackling fired, "I'm not going to tell you kids about it. It'll just be too disturbing and you need all the focus you can get to get through this term."

"What do you mean?" Billy asked. He was now, on the edge of the stool and if he wasn't careful, Charlie thought, he would fall over.

"What I mean, dear Billy, is that you three mustn't think about what I just said. Tell no one about this and don't think about it."

"How can we?" Charlie asked, "It has something to do with us. If it has something to do with us then we want to know." He looked at Gabriel for support and received it. Gabriel nodded his approval and added, "It can't be that bad that we can't know. We're all teenagers now. I think we can handle it."

However, Cook obstinately shook her head. "No, you kids mustn't know now I regret telling you. I will tell you this," she rested her head on the chair's headrest and closed her eyes, "Evil is abroad yet again and you all know how important the balance is. It must be kept otherwise, there will be great trouble."

Feeling a bit disappointed Charlie said, "But Cook, there's always some sort of evil every term. What makes this term any different?"

"You will be surprised, Charlie. Keep your eyes peeled for danger. That's all I can tell you at the moment." Charlie waited for her to say something else but she said no more. Sighing, Charlie stood up and gestured to Gabriel and Billy.

"Come on guys. Let's head out." Gabriel and Billy followed him solemnly and the three walked out the window in silence. When they reached the cafeteria, the horn sounded for the end of lunch. Charlie waved at the other two and walked off to his next class, wondering what could've disturbed Cook so much that she had objected to tell them anything. What use were her words if they didn't tell them anything new? Charlie idly walked into his trumpet lesson. Taking out his trumpet he began to play for Sr. Alvarez, barely aware that he was playing. All he was thinking of was… _what did Cook so desperately wanted to hide from them?_

*****

As the last class ended with the sounding of the horn, Emma excitedly gathered her bag and rushed out the door. However, as soon as she got out into the hallway, Emma slowed her pace down and began walking leisurely. As she walked she heard footsteps running behind her. Turning around, she suddenly stepped backwards, lost her balance and crashed to the floor.

"Oh my gosh!" came the reply. Emma groaned as she recognized the voice.

"Livvy," Emma cried angrily. She brushed her hair off her face and put up a hand. "At least help me up if you're going to push me down." she said when Olivia stared blankly at her.

"Oh right," Olivia said hurriedly and quickly pulled Emma up. Rubbing her back, Emma reached down to retrieve her bag.

"What was that for?" Emma asked. When she received no reply, she gave a big huff and began walking towards the garden.

"Wait," Olivia said but Emma did not stop. "Wait," Olivia said again and raced towards her. Grabbing Emma's arm Olivia pulled her back. "Look," she said, "I'm really sorry about bumping into you. I just wanted to know where you were going."

Emma couldn't help but shake her head and smile. How could she possibly stay angry at Livvy? Livvy was always very clumsy and reckless and of course she hadn't meant to hurt her or anything. "I'm just going to see Tancred in the garden before homework starts."

"Oh…" Olivia exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "All right then. I definitely don't want to stop you then." She immediately ran of in the other direction.

"I'm just going to play some soccer, Livvy." Emma called after her. "I'll see you later." Olivia waved her hand in response but kept walking. Shaking her head, Emma continued her way to the garden.

Reaching the garden, Emma saw Tancred playing soccer with his best friend, Lysander. Emma felt disappointed, but not for long. She reasoned with herself that if anyone else was allowed to be here with she and Tancred it would only be reasonable to have Lysander. Plus, he was a great soccer player as well.

"Hey Em!" Lysander cried out when she walked close towards the soccer field. "Tancred was waiting desperately for you to come."

"I was not!" Tancred retorted from the other side of the field. Emma smiled and ran towards Lysander.

"You're going to be on Tancred's side. Just throw your bag to the side and let's play some soccer." Lysander said.

"You don't want to play with Tancred?" Emma asked.

"Are you saying I can't play both of you?" Lysander challenged. His hair was blowing in the air as he leaned to one side, trying to look serious. Emma stared at him for a second and then exploded with laughter.

"What is so funny?" Lysander demanded.

Emma continued to laugh and her stomach shouted in pain as she tried to stop. "It's… it's just that... you look… so funny. Stop it!"

"What do you mean Em?" Lysander asked holding back a smile, "Do you mean I should stop this?" Lysander pulled himself up and pretended to look serious.

"Stop it!" Emma cried as she fell to the ground in laughter.

"Hurry up Em!" came a distant voice. Emma looked up and saw Tancred waving his hands, his cape blowing in a strong breeze that wasn't there.

"Sorry Tanc!" Emma cried. She got up and she pointed her finger dramatically at Lysander. "Tanc and I will beat you! Just you wait!" As she sprinted off to Tancred she heard Lysander call after her, "You're becoming just as good an actress as Olivia."

Ignoring him, Emma took the soccer ball from Tancred and ran to place it in the middle. "You're going to regret playing alone, Sander." Emma said smugly. Though she was an extremely sweet girl, she absolutely loved soccer and it was while playing this game, she unleashed her competitiveness.

"1, 2, 3." Emma counted and immediately took the ball. Surprising Lysander with her quickness, Emma dribbled it towards the net and easily kicked the first goal of the game.

"Well," Emma said as she turned around to face Lysander. "You regret that choice of yours yet?"

"Not at all," Lysander grinned. "I really like this side of you Em. You should let it out more often."

"Yeah," Tancred agreed, "Very fiery and competitive. Not at all like your normal sweet side." Emma pulled her lips tight and brought her fist back to give him a nice punch.

"Hey!" Tancred cried in surprise, automatically bringing his hand up to rub his sore arm.

"Was that comment meant to be good or bad?"

"Good of course." Tancred said indignantly. "I never say anything mean about you."

"I suppose not." Emma said reluctantly. "Though I'm sure there was once a time when you…"

"Let's play," Lysander said in a brief annoyed voice. "We haven't got all day you know." Both Tancred and Emma nodded casting each other an amused look. This time the three decided to play soccer a different way. All three of them played against each other trying to score a goal by themselves. Lysander started with the ball and soon, all three of the endowed children were playing joyfully.

Moments later, the score was Tancred: 20, Emma: 17, Lysander: 19. As Tancred took the ball to begin another round, he saw a group of students wearing various color cloaks walking towards them. As they came closer, Tancred realized they were the soccer team. Were they going to kick him and his friends off the field? Tancred picked up the soccer ball feeling tense a little.

"Hey!" One of the boys from the team called out. He stepped away from the group and Tancred guessed that he was their captain. The boy was probably in his senior year with brown hair and eyes. His hair was like any other soccer player's, it was not too short or too long. It flopped down over his ears. Tancred eyed him suspiciously as he neared closer.

"You're Tancred the storm boy aren't you?" the boy said nodding his head towards Tancred. Tancred slowly nodded, keeping his guard on. The boy approached him and scanned him head to toe.

"We were watching you," the boy said matter-of-factly .

Tancred turned his head to eye the boy with his suspicion, "And…"

The boy looked at his group as if collecting their approval. When the group nodded the boy turned back and said, "We would like to invite you to join our team."

Tancred's eyes grew wide as his jaw dropped. Turning to Emma and Lysander in amazement, he saw his expressions mirrored in their faces. They too looked astonished. Turning back to the boy, Tancred said coolly, "Can I discuss this with my friends?"

"Of course," the boy said. "Just so you know, we will have practice every other day for two hours during this time. We are free on the weekends but sometimes we might have parties or a gathering of some sort." Reaching into his pocket, the boy took out a piece of paper, "This is the schedule for our games. They'll either be here at Bloor's or at another area."

Tancred took the piece of paper and muttered to himself, "I didn't even know we had other schools." He turned around to see Emma and Lysander standing behind him. Apparently, they had moved in closer during this conversation.

"What do you guys think?" he asked moving them away from the group and the tall boy.

"It could be good for you," Emma said, "You know, something to do when you have nothing to do."

"Yeah," Lysander agreed, "I don't see anything wrong with it. If you don't like it, you could always drop out or something. Plus, you must be pretty good if they asked you? They're like the best soccer players here at Bloor's."

"And, they also won a championship as well." Emma added, "I don't remember which one but it was a big one."

"So you guys think I should do it?" Tancred asked unsure.

"Of course," Lysander said, "That is if you want to. Don't do it if you don't want to. No one's going to force you to do anything." He smiled making Tancred smile in return. Tancred gave a nod of his head and turned back to face the captain.

"Sure, I'll join." he said giving a shrug of the shoulder. The captain gave an approving nod and stuck out his hand. Tancred took it and they shook.

"By the way," the captain said before he turned around, "My name is Blaine. Hope to see you next week. That's when we'll start practice." Tancred nodded and the captain left with his group.

Tancred watched them walk away for a while until Emma said, "Sander, what are you staring at?"

Tancred looked around and saw that Lysander was staring into a bush, his brows furrowed. "What's up, Sander?" he asked. He headed towards him and stared at the bush but saw nothing.

"Nothing," Lysander responded. "I just thought I saw…"

"Who?" Emma asked.

"I just thought I saw someone in there but I guess not. Let's head into the castle. I think homework will be starting soon." Lysander said. He turned away and Emma and Tancred exchanged curious glances before following them. _What had Lysander seen? Did he even see anything or was he mistaken?_

Sure enough there was someone in there. Melanie Wilson was hiding within the bushes. She had been sitting there for some time and she could no longer feel her legs. She grumbled in frustration as she watched the three kids play soccer. She had no idea why old man Ezekial had told her to hide in these dumb rose bushes and watch Emma and her little friends. The bushes contained thorns and Melanie figured that she must have been high when she agreed. Besides, what he expect to gain out of this. Nothing that Melanie could see. Melanie sighed and shifted her position. Suddenly her leg fell onto a sharp thorn and she yelp in pain. That was when Lysander turned towards her.

Ducking desperately, Melanie forced her hands over her mouth to avoid shouting in pain. As soon as Lysander and the others had left, Melanie released her hands and screamed in pain. Desperately she scrambled out of the rose bush only to bump into someone. Fearing who it was, Melanie slowly turned around. In front of her stood a tall, muscular man, probably around 21 or so. He had long dark hair, which he tied up in a pony tail, and he had stood there, in front of her, with his arms crossed. Melanie rarely got intimidated but this was one of those times when she desperately wanted to dart as far away as she could.

"You're Melanie Wilson aren't you?" the man asked in a husky voice. Melanie briefly nodded, her eyes still wide with fear.

"Well I have a letter for you Melanie." the man said passively. He took out a letter from his coat pocket and shot it in front of him. Carefully, Melanie took the letter. Staring back at the man, something was extremely unnerving about him. The man turned away and immediately began walking away. Looking around, Melanie carefully slipped a finger through the slit to open the envelope. A letter fell out. Picking it up, Melanie opened it and saw, with disappointment, it was from Ezekial. _What does he want? _Melanie read the first few lines, "Welcome to Bloor's, Melanie. I understand that your parents sent you here to help me with my plan. Therefore, it is fitting for you to know about the plan…" Melanie looked around and quickly scanned the letter. The letter talked about Ezekial's plan and what role Melanie had in it. _What a dumb plan. _she thought. She didn't want to go along with it but she didn't want to be sent home either. She rather liked this place and wanted to stay here as long as she could. If she had to help that dumb baboon of a man then she will do so.

The horn sounded and Melanie headed for the King's Room, reading the letter. As she reached the door of the room she quickly pocketed the letter. Walking in, she was immediately caught off guard for standing to her right was the same man who had given her the letter just a few minutes earlier. Avoiding him, Melanie quickly looked away and looked for a seat. Choosing a seat in the corner, Melanie quickly sat down and took out a book. Ignoring the rest of the endowed who entered, Melanie created a cold, empty shield around herself. _Who was she really? _This was a question that posed difficult for her and she always had to answer it, in some form or another. In every single class she had had since coming to Bloor's, she was required to fill out a form, one of the questions being, something along the lines of: _How would you describe yourself?_ Sure she answered them but none of the answers were the same. Melanie had simply made them up. Ever since she was little she never truly knew who she was. She knew who she acted like, but _who was she really?_


	6. Chapter 5

**Here's the fifth chapter. It's been a long long time but I still hope there are some people reading this and kind enough to comment. School is keeping me away from writing but hopefully I'll be able to update soon. **

* * *

The horn sounded and Olivia left the class grumbling. How on earth did she get detention? She had almost gone through two entire weeks of school without getting in trouble and now Manfred decides that he didn't like her outfit and gave her detention for that. Ridiculous. As she veered a corner, Olivia stopped short before hitting Melanie.

"Oh hey!" Olivia said trying to be friendly. Melanie just looked at her coldly before sticking her nose in the air and continued on. Now Olivia did not like being ignored, especially not like this.

"Hey wait a second." Olivia said running after her. She grabbed a hold of Melanie's shoulder but immediately let go when Melanie swung around. Melanie flicked Olivia's hand away from her shoulder and said, "Look Olivia. You don't bother me and I won't bother you. We'll get along nicely then. Do we have a deal?" Without waiting for a respond, Melanie swung around continued walking. Olivia stood there dumbstruck, trying to make sense of what she had just heard.

At that moment, a strange figure crept out of the shadows and feeling his presence, Olivia immediately turned around. She grimaced when she saw Manfred. She leaned to one side preparing herself for a lecture. However, she never got one, at least not then. Instead, Manfred simply called out to Melanie telling her to come back. Reluctantly, Melanie gave a big sigh and turned around. Olivia watched as Melanie dragged herself near them.

"What do you want, Manfred." Melanie said in such a tone Olivia thought for sure she would've received detention. However, Manfred did an unexpected, he smiled. Olivia watched in amazement when she heard a voice behind her. Immediately recognizing it as Fidelio's, she turned around and smiled.

"Hey Fido!" she called out. Fidelio ran towards her and asked breathlessly, "Hey… what's going on…"

"'Dunno," Olivia said turning her attention to Manfred and Melanie. It seemed as if they were having an argument for Manfred was shouting in her face while Melanie merely ignored him.

"Let's just stay here and listen. Maybe they won't notice." Fidelio suggested. Olivia nodded and together they just stood there, listening.

"What did you think you were doing Melanie?" Manfred shouted.

Melanie simply shrugged her shoulder and said, "I don't want to pretend to be something I'm not."

"Well you're going to have to." Manfred said, "You're working for my grandfather and he wants you to gain their trust." Fidelio and Olivia cast each other a worried glance. _What on earth could he mean?_

Fortunately, Melanie did not agree to this one bit. "Look, his plans are crap and they never ever work. He's tried forever to kill Charlie Bone, ever since he was ten right? Well now he's fourteen, what makes him think he'll kill him this time. Besides, you shouldn't be telling me this when even you care no more." Manfred took a step back in surprise. No one had ever spoken to him like that but yet, could she be right? Spotting Olivia and Fidelio standing to the side, his nervousness grew. _How much had they heard? Why didn't he notice they were there?_

Straightening he said, "Veritigo, Gunn, what are you two doing here?"

"We.. we were just…" Fidelio stuttered.

"Oh give us a break," Melanie said, "Just give up the act and simply tell them to keep their yap shut." She turned to the two and eyed them coldly, "You heard me. Leave and don't you dare tell anyone whatever you heard." Her eyes burnt like coal and immediately, Olivia and Fidelio shuffled off. Smiling satisfactorily, Melanie turned her attention back to Manfred. "Think about what I said. I'm not going to listen to Ezekial like a little lost kid. I'm here to keep an eye on Rhia. Do what you wish but you know you don't belong here. You've never had." She shouldered by him, and walked off, leaving Manfred's stomach flipping in confusion.

*****

"What do you suppose all that was Fido?" Olivia asked as soon as she and Fidelio turned the corner.

"I don't know." Fidelio said. "It seems strange and that Melanie girl sure is creepy."

"I'll say but she's go nerve." Olivia said remembering her cold piercing eyes. "She actually talked back to him and she dissed his grandfather, yet he didn't blow up at her. I'm thinking he was more surprised then angry."

"Yes," Fidelio agreed. "No matter what Charlie or the others say, this term is not going to be like any other. There's too many mysteries and secrets around."

"Do you think we have something to do with it?" Olivia asked. She became extremely excited at the thought of yet another adventure.

"Don't we always?" Fidelio asked. "But remember," he said as if he had read her mind, "just because we're in the mix of the adventure or mystery or whatever it's not always good… remember Tancred?" Olivia took a deep breath as she recalled Tancred's near accident a few years back.

Seeing her expression, Fidelio nodded. "I know you love adventure Olivia and it's great that you're always so brave and stuff. I really like that about you, but you have to careful. Don't be like Charlie and rush off without thinking."

Though Olivia hated hearing this, she knew it was true. She gave a sigh and nodded. "Come on then," Fidelio said. Let's go find the others. Don't mention this to them. It'll be our secret." he smiled.

"What if it's important though," Olivia asked.

"Then we'll tell them when we are forced to," Fidelio simply said.

"Ok," Olivia said and the two walked off in search for the others.

*****

It was bright. All too bright. Rhiannon slowly blinked open her eyes. Immediately, light rushed into them almost blinding them. Screaming, Rhiannon covered her eyes and pulled the blanket over her. Slowly, she pulled the blanket down, her eyes peeking out. Blinking a few times, Rhiannon's eyes eventually got used to the sunlight and Rhiannon pushed the covers off.

Sitting up, Rhiannon rubbed her eyes trying to make sense of what's happened.

Rhiannon climbed off her bed and went to the window. Staring out, she spotted some kids in the garden. _They look so happy._ Rhiannon thought with a resigned sigh. If only she could be as happy as them but she knew it would be a small chance. Turning around, she scanned the room that she shared with Emma. Having a roommate wasn't that bad, Emma just kind of left her alone but yet she was really sweet. Rhiannon's eyes fell on the clock sitting on the nightstand. It read '9:45'. _Emma and Billy would be in class now._ Rhiannon thought with sad eyes. She had never once thought that coming here she would meet people as nice as Emma and Billy were. From the moment they met, both Emma and Billy were extremely friendly and nice to her. They had tried to talk to her but she had refused. Rhiannon took one last look out the window and climbed onto her bed.

Pulling the covers over her, she sat against the backboard of the bed, her legs tucked in close to her. Closing her eyes, Rhiannon rested her head against the pillow. For a moment, she sat there, thinking. She tried to retrieve her first, happy memory but could not find any. Every time she felt a bit happy something had to happen to ruin it. It was always like that. _Her fifth birthday was a nice example. For once, she had looked forward to her birthday. Her brother and sister were there and her sister actually cared. She didn't bully Rhiannon on this day, it was the first time Rhiannon had received a hug from her sister. Her parents were not there but that was expected. They didn't care much Rhiannon or her siblings, they were always busy. Rhiannon had invited some of her friends and the two servants, Samme and Evelyn, were there to take care of the party. The party was extremely fun. _ Rhiannon recalled, _she and her friends played many friends and when Rhiannon blew out her candles on her cake, she felt truly happy._ She remembered that she had wished for everyday to be like that. However, that was not meant to be. Just when Rhiannon was about to open presents, her father burst through the door and with his endowment, lifted Rhiannon into the air.

Frightened, her friends ran out the door, closely followed by Evelyn. However, her siblings and Samme had stayed in the room. Rhiannon remembered that Samme had told her father to put her down. However, with a mere glance, her father had slammed Samme against the wall. _How could such a wonderful day become one of the worst?_ Rhiannon remembered how she had felt, she had felt pure fear. She remembered the pain she had received from her father then, and all for what, just for simply having a birthday party. According to him and her mother, she was to have no parties any more because it would distract her from 'fulfilling her destiny.' The memory was so vivid that Rhiannon could actually feel the pain searing through her body. Her father's voice entered her ears and began torturing her with words. Soon, the pain became unbearable and Rhiannon grabbed her hand in pain. Suddenly, Rhiannon felt herself falling and then she fell hard onto something. Snapping her eyes open, Rhiannon found herself on the floorboard, her arm still searing with pain.

"It's not a dream," Rhiannon breathed. She closed her eyes in pain and forced herself up. Stumbling, she pulled herself back onto the bed. Lying against her pillow, breathlessly, Rhiannon pulled up her right sleeve. What she saw was what she had hoped not to see. On her inside part of her right arm burned a deep, black symbol, as if trying to break free. "No," Rhiannon breathed. Suddenly, the same voice blasted into her ears, "Rhiannon my dear…" it said.

Clamping her hands against her ears, Rhiannon desperately shook her head. "Please, go away." she breathed though she knew it was impossible.

"You know I will do no such thing Rhiannon." the voice said. "I'm sure you knew you wouldn't be able to escape me."

"No," Rhiannon cried. Suddenly, a door slammed open and Rhiannon looked up. The pain immediately subsided and the voice had disappeared. However, Rhiannon was not the bit relieved. She groaned and let her head drop onto the pillow below. "Why are you here?" she asked slowly. She shut her eyes tight as if trying to wish the visitor away.

"I'm here to talk to you." the voice said. _That was exactly what he had said._ Rhiannon thought. She heard footsteps near her bed and gave a gulp. She slowly opened her eyes and standing near her bed was Melanie Wilson.

Taking a deep breath Rhiannon looked Melanie in the eye and asked, "What do you want?"

*****

_Where was Rhiannon? _Billy wondered as he wandered the halls idly. _Why would she have cut class? _Billy had wanted talk to her during class, to ask her some more questions. She had smiled at Emma, he was told, so maybe she wasn't as cold cut as she appeared to be.

"Arg!" Billy cried. He kicked a nearby pebble in frustration. Though it was only the second week of school, he felt as if he was deeply missing something, something important. He remembered what Cook had said to him the past week. _Evil is abroad yet again and you all know how important the balance is. It must be kept otherwise, there will be great trouble. _How was that going to help any of them? Billy thought in frustration. "Cook has always helped us and she always gave good advice. This is just so stupid." he cried in frustration. He brought his leg forward in a kicking position and suddenly he hit something. A small, yelp came from the creature and Billy looked down and gasped in guilt.

"Oh Blessed," Billy said shocked. He knelt down beside the poor, whimpering dog. He brushed his hand over dog's fur, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to kick you." He brought his hand onto the dog's head and then he tightly hugged the dog at the neck. The dog gave a small howl, "I've missed you too Blessed. You look so pitiful. What happened?"

Billy pulled himself away from the dog and listened intently as the dog told him briefly what he had heard during the summer. Billy listened as the dog mentioned the names: Ezekial, Manfred, Melanie… Rhiannon.

"Rhiannon?" Billy said suddenly. "What does she have to do with this plan, Blessed?"

"Blessed don't know," the dog answered. "Old man was talking of watching her. He said…" Suddenly, the dog gave a yelp of pain. Billy gave a start and watched in horror as blood began spurting from a wound.

"Blessed!" Billy cried in horror, "Blessed what's happening?!"

"Blessed don't know! Ooo, it hurts Billy. Billy help! Please!" Blessed writhed on the floor in pain as blood continued pouring. In the midst of his panic, Billy stumbled onto his feet. Tears began wetting his face as he struggled to pick up Blessed. This was not an easy task considering the size of Blessed. Finally Billy gave up in fear of making the wound wider.

"Hang in there," Billy cried as Blessed gave a moan, "Please, just hang in there. I'm going to get Cook."

"Hurry," Blessed moaned, "Blessed in pain."

"Don't die," Billy said panicky, "Please don't die, Blessed. I'll be back." Hurriedly, he sprinted towards the cafeteria desperate to find Cook. _Where could she be?_ He looked in the kitchen and found only annoyed kitchen ladies. No Cook. He quickly turned around and ran to her room. Maybe she's been there the whole day. Stopping in front of the door Billy hesitated. What would happen to Blessed if Cook couldn't save him? Billy couldn't bear the thought of losing another thing he loved. Bringing his hand up to the door, Billy pushed open the door.

"Cook!" he shouted as soon as he stepped in. Cook was sitting on the same couch as earlier. Hearing his urgent voice, Cook looked up. Billy stumbled towards her and fell to his knees at the foot of her chair. "Blessed's dying," Billy cried out between tears. "I don't know what happened. He just started spurting blood. He's in so much pain Cook. Please! You've got to help him."

Without a word, Cook immediately got up and nodded her head. Taking this as a signal, Billy found himself stumbling his way out of the room. Once outside, he desperately sprinted his way to Blessed, hoping, praying that they weren't too late.

*****

"What do you want?" Rhiannon demanded again. She tried to sound brave and confident but she was far from that. Her insides squirmed and she bit her lip out of nervousness.

"Relax," Melanie said. "I already told you what I'm here for. I just want to talk to you. In case you're wondering, no one sent me here."

"Then why have you come?" Rhiannon asked. She backed into the headboard of her bed as Melanie slowly sat down on her bed, Indian style.

"Can I see your arm?" Melanie asked coolly. Rhiannon showed Melanie her left arm. "The other one."

"Why?"

"Just show it to me," Melanie reached for Rhiannon's right arm and pulled it towards her direction. She pushed the sleeve back and studied the black symbol, "He's been trying to contact you hasn't he?" she asked, her voice suddenly gentler.

"So what if he has?" Rhiannon demanded.

"Cool down." Melanie snapped back, "We're not going to get anywhere if you keep acting tough. No one's here but us. Just relax."

"I won't, not around you. What have you ever down to make me relax?" Rhiannon asked. For a second, Melanie did not say a word. When she did, she spoke so soft, Rhiannon had to strain her ears to hear her. "I've done plenty of things, you just don't recognize them." Rhiannon looked up into Melanie's eyes, the coldness had left.

"I don't want them to know," Rhiannon said looking away. Could she trust her? She was so unpredictable and it was hard to read her expressions.

"I know," Melanie said, "That's why I'm here." Rhiannon bit her tongue and forced herself to look away. She could not bring herself to look at Melanie. She was confused, did she really, sincerely want to help her or was she just trying to use her? Rhiannon did not understand.

"Why did you come here to Bloor's?" Rhiannon asked, her earlier anger simply replaced by confusion.

"I came here to keep an eye on you," Melanie said plaintively.

"Keep an eye on me? Why? How did you even know I was here?"

"Even from when you first ran off, he knew where you were. He didn't want you to know though. He wanted to scare you into submission. One time, after you left, I heard him speaking to _her._ They were plotting to torture you into submission. I immediately knew I had to follow you, to watch you."

"So he knows," Rhiannon said. Melanie nodded. "In that case, what use is it to watch over me if he knows. He's just going to keep trying to contact me no matter how hard I push him out."

"I'll help you," Melanie offered. Rhiannon looked up. Looking into the face she's known for so long gave her a sense of security but yet she knew something was up. Melanie never offered to do something nice without a catch. There had to be one.

"What's the catch?" Rhiannon said softly looking at Melanie from her left side.

Just as expected there was one. Melanie closed her eyes and gave a sigh. "He wants to bring you back but he agreed not to because I told him that I would help this guy named Ezekial with his plan. Ezekial is an idiot of a man but as long as I help him, he won't you."

"That's a lie," Rhiannon said. "He's going to hurt me. He wants me, I'm his 'treasure' and he can't succeed without me."

"He didn't lie Rhia." Melanie said. "I could tell."

"If you say so," Rhiannon shrugged, "So what's next?"

"So… if I help Ezekial then he won't hurt you but… Ezekial wants you to stay away from the endowed."

"The endowed?" Rhiannon asked. "You mean Emma, Billy and the rest of them?"

Melanie nodded. "That's exactly who I'm talking about."

"What if I don't stay away from them?" Rhiannon challenged.

"Then…" Melanie took a deep breath, "well then, Ezekial said he'll just consider you as one of them then and he wants _me _to hurt you, torture you, anything to get you away from them."

"You won't really would you?" Rhiannon exclaimed.

"I don't have a choice. In order to keep you safe, I have to work with that ass and he wants _me_ to get _you_ away from the endowed."

"All the endowed? Why? What's the point of doing that?"

"Just hear me out." Melanie said when Rhiannon interrupted. Rhiannon pushed herself up against the headrest and cocked her head to one side.

"If you don't stay away from the endowed then that means Ezekial will force me to hurt you and if I refuse then _he_ will hurt _you. _If I hurt you, you'll still end up being hurt by him because I failed to obey Ezekial."

"How would you have disobeyed Ezekial if you hurt me?" Rhiannon asked.

"Not because I disobeyed him but because I failed to do what he wanted me to do so then both he and Ezekial would consider that as me not cooperating and you'll still end up being hurt."

"So really there's no way out of this is there? You've got it pretty covered."

"It's not my fault, Rhia" Melanie cried. "I don't want to work with that loaf but I have no choice."

"You do!" Rhiannon cried. "You've always had a choice and you just use that dumb excuse to cover up your mistakes!"

"I'm sorry all right?!" Melanie shouted, "I'm sorry you're unhappy that I'm trying to help you. I have class next period and I'm not going to stay here to argue with you. If you want to get hurt, fine! Either by him or me, whichever one floats your boat and then you can tell me whether _you _had a choice or not!" Melanie got up from the bed and headed for the door.

"Mel!" Rhiannon shouted. Melanie stopped but did not turn back. "I... I just don't want him in my life.."

"I know," Melanie said softly, "But I can't do anything about that. Maybe eventually." She opened the door and left. As Rhiannon watched go, her stomach twisted in all sorts of directions. She couldn't take it. She turned over into her pillow and began to cry, something no one had ever seen her done.


	7. Chapter 6

**Here's another chapter for ya'll.... those who read this anyway. Not receiving many reviews so maybe I shouldn't even update.... hm....**

* * *

Rhiannon stared sadly at them as they walked by laughing and talking. She looked after them from behind a pillar, full of confusion. Watching them walk away made her feel more lonely then she's ever felt before. _What am I suppose to do? _Rhiannon went up against the pillar and slowly slide down. Tucking her legs in, Rhiannon let her head lay in between her legs. _I know if I hang out with them I'll get in trouble… but I can't stay away from them forever. Emma and Billy are my friends._ She gave a big sigh and pushed herself up. Looking from the pillar she sang to herself. _(a/n: the tune below is to May It Be by Enya)_

"Day and night, you will toll

like a cursed, lost doll

But comes the day when you will shine

My dear child

you'll be mine

How can this be all true

if I don't know who told me

Every night, I see your shadow

You call to bring me home to you

And can it be? that you'll protect me

or am I just living on my own

Can't they see the pain I hide

Crying tears when they've gone

No one cares that I need help

Like a fragile lost doll

Don't they see that I'm just like them

I need a friend to tell secrets to

And I ask them why can't they see that

I can not shine if they don't help me.

I can not shine if they don't help me.

As Rhiannon finished singing, she slid down the pillar and hugged her legs tight. Suddenly she heard a noise, she looked around and saw Melanie.

"Were you here the whole time?" she asked Melanie. When Melanie nodded Rhiannon turned back and hugged her legs tighter. "I don't know what to do," she mumbled.

"I gave you some choices," Melanie said.

"I know but I don't see any good ones."

"Don't worry about them," Melanie's voice was unusually soft and gentle and Rhiannon looked up in surprise.

"Why are you acting like this?" Rhiannon asked. Melanie shrugged. Rhiannon concluded that even she did not clearly why she was acting like this. Melanie then twisted around, opening her bag. Taking out a piece of paper she handed it to Rhiannon.

"You're to go to the King's Room now, everyday for homework." Rhianon took the paper and opened it. It was a letter written by Dr. Bloor.

"Why do I have to go in there?" Rhiannon asked.

"Because he told Ezekial that you're endowed and apparently all the endowed are suppose to work in there. I think it's something about keeping all of us together. You have to give this letter to Manfred when you get there. " _Manfred. _Rhianon never heard of him but the name didn't sound like it belonged to a nice dude. Melanie shrugged. She knelt down besides Rhiannon and smiled. Rhiannon was taken aback. When was the last time Melanie smiled? However, the smile was kind of… sad as though she was hiding something. _What could it be?_ "Don't worry about them ok? It'll be for the best if you stayed away from them." Melanie got up and Rhiannon slowly watched her go. The horn sounded. Melanie got up and with her hand on the pillar she peered past it and saw Billy. He was headed to History, maybe he could help her find the King's Room because Rhiannon had no idea where it was. _"__I can not shine if they don't help me."_

*****

"Billy!," Billy turned around to find the voice. "Billy!" There it was again. Billy looked ahead and saw Rhiannon running towards him. He smiled and waved. He waited for Rhiannon to catch up with him before entering the room. Almost immediately the teacher set them to work, and because of this Billy didn't get a chance to talk to Rhiannon until the end of class. At the end of class, Billy waited for Rhiannon to finish packing and then walked up to her.

"How are you Rhia?" he asked.

"Ok, I guess." Rhiannon answered curtly.

"Was there something you wanted to ask me before class?" Billy asked. Rhiannon looked around and took out a piece of paper. She handed it to Billy and said softly, "I have to go to the King's Room for homework starting next Monday and I was wondering whether you can take me there or not."

"Um… of course I could," Billy said as he quickly read the letter. "Dr. Bloor wrote this?" Billy asked in astonishment. Rhiannon nodded and Billy took a second glance at the letter. He didn't like the look of this letter. It looked very suspicious, as if it was hiding over a thousand secrets inside the words.

"Can I keep it Rhia?" He asked. Rhia gave a shrug and Billy quickly stuff it in his bag. Maybe Charlie or Emma could decipher it or maybe one of the other boys, Tancred and Lysander. "What class do you have before homework?" he asked.

"Language," she said. Billy nodded and told her that he would wait for her at the end of that class. Rhiannon agreed and left the room. Heading to his next class Billy wondered, _Another mystery is here at Bloor's. What endowment does Rhia have and why is she being sent to the King's Room now and not at the beginning of the semester._ Billy knew whether he liked it or not, another adventure was in store for him and his friends.

*****

As Rhiannon entered her painting class she realized that she was the very last person to enter. All pairs of eyes were upon her as she nervously sat down next to Emma. The teacher continued instructing them on the first project they were to begin today.

"This project is to 'discover and paint.' Your goal in this project is to find a way to paint your thoughts and ideas in a presentable way. Today by the end of class you are to find some special attributes or values that are most important to you. You must also begin your sketch today. The design is totally up to you but you just have a minimum of five thoughts or values incorporated into you painting. Make the painting a part of you. You know where the supplies are if you need them, get started." The teacher walked to her desk and took out a pile of paper as the students walked around the class getting supplies and whatnot. Rhiannon simply opened her bag to take out a piece of paper. Uncapping a pen, Rhiannon began envisioning this project. The teacher wouldn't know what attributes or values are really important to me, I could simply make them up. Smiling, Rhiannon began writing and designing.

Moments into the class, Rhiannon finished designing her project. She took a step back to look at her sketch. It wasn't bad, in fact it looked pretty good. Rhiannon decided to get her teacher's comments, after all it was her who was going to grade it. Picking up her sketch, Rhiannon headed for Miss. Lina's desk. Miss. Lina was writing some sort of note.

"Miss. Lina," Rhiannon said. Miss. Lina stopped writing and raised her head, "Yes Rhiannon?"

"Well, I was just wondering whether you could give me some advice on this sketch. What do you think?" Miss. Lina extended her hand motioning for the sketch. Rhiannon gave her the sketch and Miss. Lina held up for both of them to see.

"Hm…" Miss Lina said as Rhiannon waited with anticipation. "It looks pretty good Rhiannon. I really love the design and the stars are really well placed." she handed the sketch back to Rhiannon and Rhiannon nervously accepted it.

"So, is there anything I should do with it?"

"Not that I can think of at the moment," Miss Lina said, her head bent down again, "You're truly a remarkable designer."

"Thanks," Rhiannon said. She waited for Miss. Lina to say more but when she didn't, Rhiannon shrugged and returned to her desk. She looked up at the clock. Still about 15 minutes left. Sighing, Rhiannon stretched her arm onto the desk and laying her head on them she turned to watch Emma as she designed. She wanted to ask Emma about her design but decided against it. She wasn't sure yet whether she wanted to receive the consequences yet. _His powers are pretty strong._ she thought.

On her desk she laid for five more minutes. Then she saw Melanie lean over to Emma. Interested, she sat up and strained her ears to hear. "You know," Melanie was saying, "that's a beautiful design."

"Thanks," Emma said, "I'm having trouble figuring out this last section. Without it, it doesn't look right but with it, it seems over crowded."

Melanie nodded understanding but Emma caught a glimpse of craftiness in her eyes. _Why was she acting like this?_ she thought, _it was like she had a split personality._ "What values and attributes have you put in it?" her voice was extremely coy and Rhiannon sat holding her breath.

"I guess stuff like love, happiness, honesty, innocence, stuff like that," Emma said. She lay down her pencil and sat back to look over her design.

"Were you thinking of showing it to anyone special?" Melanie asked. Rhiannon immediately knew where there was trouble. Both girls knew that Emma liked Tancred. It was obvious but what was Melanie planning?

"Well I guess I'll show to Livvy and Tancred. Maybe Lysander as well." Emma said shrugging. She was quite oblivious to Melanie's plan and turned to face her. "Why do you want to know anyway?" Rhiannon watched as Melanie smiled a sweet yet sly smile. Emma indeed was quite innocent, she decided, if she couldn't see a trap right in front of her.

"I don't think it's a good idea to show it to Tancred," Melanie smoothly said.

"What's that?"

"Simply because he probably wouldn't care."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked.

"What I mean is that he doesn't care about you the way you think he does," Melanie said. Both Rhiannon and Emma jaws dropped. Rhiannon immediately looked at Melanie. However she wasn't looking back, she was instead looking at Emma. _How could she say something like that?_ Rhiannon thought. She knew it wasn't true and so did Melanie but why then would she lie?

"You're lying," Emma said her voice shaky.

"I'm not lying," Melanie said indifferent.

"How would you know anyway? You don't even know him."

"I heard him say it."

"When?"

"Yesterday when he was with Lysander. I heard him say he didn't like you but he didn't know how to tell you." Melanie said smiling. Emma watched her in amazement. _She's lying,_ she thought to herself, _Tancred would never say anything like that. But what if she really was telling the truth?_ Emma stared silent just gaping at the news.

"I think you should just stay away from her."

"What if she doesn't?" Rhiannon spoke up. Melanie and Emma both looked at her and Melanie merely laughed.

"Why would she want to hang out with him if he doesn't like her." she turned to look at Emma. Emma turned back around and looked nervously into her eyes, "Emma, I could help you stay away from him. You know anything about boys?"

"Not really…" Emma admitted. Her stomach was doing back flips and she felt extremely lightheaded. _Melanie is lying, _she kept telling herself but she had her doubts. Tancred did sometimes treat her like a normal girl instead of someone he likes.

"You see," Melanie said, "I know a thing or two about boys. If you want a boy to notice you, you simply have to ignore him or treat him meanly. He'll notice you and then he'll ask you what's wrong." Rhiannon shook her head in disbelievement. How could Melanie say such a thing to Emma?

"That… that doesn't sound very nice." Emma said.

"I know," Melanie said, "but if you want him to like you that's what you have to do. Trust me." Emma seemed hesitant to answer and Rhiannon did not like how Melanie was manipulating her.

"Mel!" Rhiannon said. Melanie rolled her eyes and said, "What?"

"You can't do this," Rhiannon said.

"And why can't I? I'm just trying to help her."

"You're not."

"Well if you're not happy then you don't have to listen." Melanie said. She returned her gaze to Emma and Rhiannon was officially out of the conversation. Rhiannon watched hopelessly willing Emma to refuse Melanie's request.

"He didn't really say that did he?" Emma asked.

"Of course he wouldn't!" Rhiannon said. She was going to say more but Melanie cut her short with a piercing glare.

"That's what I heard him say." Melanie said casually shrugging her shoulders. "I'll help you. Just first off, avoid him at all cost and if he tries to talk to you, just refuse to say anything."

"What's in it for you?" Emma asked.

"Oh nothing," Melanie said, "I just want to help you. However, there is this one thing… if I help you then you have to help me."

"What's that?"

"Well… not now but soon… I want you to help me trick the other endowed children. For now, you could simply do some of my homework."

"What?!" Emma cried. "Trick them? What do you mean?"

"I want you to trick them, you're friends with them so it'll be easy for you. Lead them into danger and stuff. I'll tell you more later."

"I can't do that. They're my friends." Emma said.

"Do you want Tancred to love you?" Emma fell silent and Melanie knew she had her trapped. "If you want him then you'll have to go along with this. I'll help you get him back."

Rhiannon saw Emma struggling against this decision. She willed her to be strong and say no, but at last, it wasn't meant to me. Rhiannon bent her head and breathed a resigned sigh as Emma looked Melanie in the eye and said, "Fine."

"So it's a deal then?" Melanie asked. "Let's shake on it," She extended a hand and Emma grabbed it. They shook hands and the deal was sealed…. _or was it?_

"Good," Melanie smiled. "Don't think about going back on the deal either and if you do… I'll make sure you get back on track… if you get my drift?" She seemed to focus her eyes especially on Rhiannon as if she was warning her not to interfere.

Turning back to her design, Emma stared at it troubled. Did she make the right decision or was it just plain stupid of her? She laid head down onto her arms for she sat there for the rest of the class period, thinking over her decision. The last fifteen minutes of class seemed to take forever. When the horn finally sounded, Emma stuffed her sketchbook inside her bag and trudged for the door. However, before she reached the door, Melanie pulled her aside and whispered in her ear, "Meet me in my dorm after homework tonight." Nodding, Emma followed her out the door. Heaving a sigh, Emma trudged her way to the King's Room. Passing the garden, Emma stared out. The sun was setting at this time of day and it cast long shadows through the arches and into the hallway. Feeling the warmth from the sun reminded her of the memories she shared with Tancred and the others. Now she could no longer be with Tancred. Emma let out a big sigh, and wondered, _was that deal really worth it or had she made a mistake?_

Then, as if the devil had called willed it himself, Emma heard her name called out by one distinguishable voice. Emma closed her eyes tight and willed the voice to go away. However, it did not. Instead, it came closer and closer. Feeling a hand on her shoulder she took a deep shuddering breath.

"Is something wrong?" the voice asked.

"No." Emma said forcing herself to stay calm.

"Em…" the voice said. It sounded worried but Emma forced herself to disregard it. She mustn't listen to him, she mustn't talk to him. But she couldn't. His voice sounded extremely tender and worried. How could Melanie be so sure? Biting her lip, she turned around and gave a weak smile.

"Hey," she said. In front of her stood the two inseparable boys, contradicting each other in appearance.

"Em…" the blonde spiky hair boy said. His eyes were filled with worry and Emma gave a small gulp as she forced herself to ignore his eyes. "Are… you ok?"

"I'm fine," Emma said with a nervous smile. The two boys exchanged worried glances and Emma knew she was in trouble. She quickly turned around and began heading for the King's Room. She closed her eyes to block out Tancred's voice and as she turned the corner to enter the room she quickly wiped her eyes. Gasping for breath she entered the room. There were already a few kids in there and Emma quietly took a seat in a corner. Not soon after Tancred and Lysander entered the room and Emma looked at the wall, biting her lip. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw that the two boys had seated and she chanced a glance at them. Lysander took out his homework and began busily working. Tancred, however, was just simply staring at the wall blankly.

Watching him made her heart break. Emma wanted nothing more than to get up and talk to him. However, she knew she couldn't, not now while Melanie was here. Sighing, Emma turned to her work. Looking down at her homework she picked up her pen and tried to focus. However, she could not. She found herself thinking about Tancred, Melanie, the deal. The two hours of homework seemed extra long that day as Emma found herself continuously glancing up at the clock, willing it to move faster.

After what seemed like forever, the horn finally sounded and Emma desperately made her way for the door. She could no longer stand being in the same room as Melanie. As she raced through the hallway she missed the look one particular boy gave him as she left. It was filled with disgust, anxiety, sadness. Watching her leave without a word made Tancred more confused then ever. Why was she acting so? Lysander told him not to worry about it, but how could he, when his crush was acting so… abnormal?

Twitching his lip, Tancred headed for the garden. He headed for the soccer field where he saw the other boys getting ready. "Hey!" he said as he dropped his soccer bag on the ground. Opening it, he took out his shin guards and cleats. Quickly putting them on Tancred stood up and began stretching. As soon as the other boys finished, the captain walked over and practice began.

For an hour and a half, Tancred forgot about his troubles over Emma. He practiced with the team and took many extraordinary shots. When practice finished Tancred sat down exhausted. Removing off his shin guards and cleats he grabbed his bottle. Squirting it into his mouth he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking around, he saw one of the boys. "The captain wants to talk to you." the boy said.

"What about?"

"'Dunno." Tancred gathered his belongings and searched for the captain. The captain was sitting on a nearby picnic table. Walking over, Tancred put down his belongings and asked, "So Blaine. What is it you want to talk to me about."

"You might want to sit down," the captain suggested. Tancred sat down opposite of the boy and listened expectedly.

"Well, to begin with you did excellent tonight. Our first game is next Wednesday and I'm think you're good enough to start."

"Wow." Tancred said, "Thanks."

"No problem." Blaine said. "In other news, you're friends with that girl Emma Tolly correct?"

"Yeah," Tancred said suspiciously. At the same time he thought to himself, _if she ever tells me what's bothering her._

"Well Torsson, there may be a dilemma with that." Blaine said slowly. Tancred wrinkled his brow trying to comprehend the boy's words.

"What do you mean… a dilemma?"

"You see, the team and I had a discussion and we've come to a conclusion."

"And what's that?"

"While you are on the team you are not permitted to hang out with Emma."

"What?!" Tancred screamed, his cloak blowing fiercely in a wind that was all his own. "What do you mean not permitted? What's wrong with hanging out with her?"

"You're on the team now, Torsson. Which, simply put, means you can't hang out with girls like Emma. Please sit down and control yourself." Blaine said calmly. This simply outraged Tancred more.

"What are you talking about? 'Girls like Emma?' What's that suppose to mean?"

"We are cool guys," Blaine said. "We date popular, attractive girls. Emma Tolly is not one of them. If you want to be a part of this team then you will have to say good bye to your friend."

"Wait a sec," Tancred said. "Who said anything about dating? I'm just simply hanging out with her."

"Hanging out, dating, same diff. Point is, we are only seen around each other or with those girls."

"What about the guys?" Tancred said. "How come I can hang out with them and Olivia Vertigo? She's ok and Emma's not?"

"We have no problems when it comes to the guys." Blaine said indifferent. "And Olivia… she's an actress. She's a drama queen which gives her two thumbs up. Emma on the other hand is soft, quiet and has no fire."

Tancred shook his head in disbelievement. _No fire? Emma has pure fire when angered. What do they know about Emma anyway? _"And if I don't?"

"Simple, we will force you to leave her."

Tancred simply laughed. "Force me? Then I must as well leave this team."

"You can't," Blaine said smiling.

"I can't?" Tancred laughed in disbelievement. "And why is that?"

"You joined it. Once someone joins it, they can't leave unless everyone agrees and I don't agree."

"So what are you going to do to stop me?" Tancred challenged.

"We can do many horrible things." Blaine said. For a second as the sun hit his face, Tancred thought he saw Blaine's eyes snap red.

"Don't tempt us, Torsson." Blaine's voice grew a bit venomous, spitting out every word.

"Whatever," Tancred muttered, "You can't make me stop hanging out with one of my best friend just because she's the wrong type of girl." He grabbed his bags and left, furious by what he had just heard. If he had seen the look on the captain's face, perhaps he would have thought twice before refusing. _We will get him to oblige to our needs. The plan is working according to plan._


	8. Premonition Segment

"No thank you," I said as the waiter came to my table, "I'm just thinking." I watched the waiter bow and then leave. When he was no longer in sight, I heaved a sigh, leaned back in my chair and stared up at the sky miserably. _It's been two months,_ I thought to myself, _and she's nowhere. Where could she be? _Horrifying thoughts entered my mind as I closed my eyes. She could have died and I wouldn't even know it. I felt my heart break in half with that thought. It would've been all my fault. I didn't try to save her, instead I cowered in my room refusing to help my loyal friends. Not like I would've helped anyway, they didn't find her.

Then, I felt something splash onto my face. Opening my eyes, I watched as rain began sprinkling from the sky. _Strange._ Just a moment ago it had been warm and sunny. Now it was absolutely dark with rain clouds hovering in the sky. I looked around as people struggled with their umbrellas and ran for shelter. As I scanned the surroundings something caught my eye. Or more like someone. A girl. Could it be? No it couldn't be, could it? I blinked and then she turned around and we locked eyes. It was her! I nearly tipped the chair over I got up so fast. "Emma," I whispered.

Shooting me a glare, the girl spun around and shot off. Without a moment's hesitation I was running after her. I called out her name but she never stopped, once. _She was ignoring me, _I thought with dismay. I felt burdened at that thought for she had a damn right to. After all, I hadn't looked for her.

I followed her past the town ignoring the rain that splashed onto my face and the wind that tried to make me stop. "Emma," I cried. I had to talk to her. I had to explain. "Emma!" I jumped a fence and sprinted towards her. My heart began racing as I ran onto a bridge, close behind her. I reached out and grabbed her arm, refusing to let go. "You're alive," I said breathlessly. Realizing she couldn't run, Emma stopped struggling.

"Emma," I said awkwardly. I loosened my grip and blinked in shock as she ripped her hand out of my grip. "Emma," I said again desperately. Now that she had stopped, I had no idea what to say to her. The rain was pouring extremely hard drenching the both of us but I didn't care. I just wanted to talk to her and explain. As I struggled to formulate sentences inside my head, Emma unexpectedly spun around and demanded, "Why Tancred?"

"Wh… what?" I took a step back at the sudden outburst.

"Why are you here?"

"I…" I swallowed hard and said, "I wanted to see you." It was the truth. I wanted to see her so badly. I stared into her eyes and felt my heart rip in half. Her eyes were icy blue, filled with coldness. Where had all her gentleness gone? I quickly scanned her body and saw that although her eyes were cold, her body was certainly not. Her hair was matted, her clothes ripped. Her face was covered in dirt and her body was badly bruised. I couldn't help but notice her vulnerability as she stood there, barefooted and battered.

"But why?" she said softly.

"Because," I took a breath and stared into her eyes, "because I love you." I took a step forward but felt a wave of disappointment when she retreated back. Neither of us said anything but those words seemed to have struck a chord inside Emma. I watched her, waiting anxiously for her response.

Finally, Emma looked away and said quietly "You say you love me." I nodded slightly. "But still, you didn't come to rescue me." She looked up and I felt my stomach tighten. This wasn't meant to happen. She was suppose to love me back.

"I," I stopped. What could I say? She wouldn't believe me. The rain began running down my face or was it tears? It didn't matter. I turned away and quickly brushed my arm against my face.

"Why?" I heard Emma ask quietly, "Tell me why you didn't come?"

I couldn't bear to face her so instead, I stayed turned around and quietly answered, "You don't have to know." It sounded cruel and I felt my stomach flip as I said those words. I had no choice though, I couldn't tell her.

"Why can't you tell me?" I turned my head at the sudden gentleness in her voice. Her eyes were no longer cold, at least for now. Instead they were filled with concern – for what – me?

"I can't tell you," I said again. I watched her swallow the words and as she did so, her eyes began to harden.

"Why not?" she asked, her eyes locked onto me. The rain pelted down my face as I cried out, "Because I can't! All right? I just can't" I felt horrible. I didn't know what else to do. I wanted to be forgiven so badly but I knew I wouldn't. I couldn't even forgive myself for what I did.

"Then why lie to me?"

"I didn't."

Emma looked up into my eyes and said curtly, "You said you loved me."

"And I do," I took a step towards her. She didn't move. Instead she said, "Then why didn't you go with the others?" I bit my lip. It looked like she was determined to know. I couldn't help but smile under this bleak situation. She was so much stronger then she was before.

I took a breath and closed my eyes. "I didn't want to see you hurt." I squeezed my eyes waiting for an answer. When it didn't come, I continued quickly. I could see everything happening as I spoke, "I was scared Em. I didn't know what they had done to you. I knew you were alive, because Rhia told us but I didn't know what they did to you." Now that I was speaking, I couldn't stop myself. I spilled the entire story to her, "I went to rescue Rhia and what I saw… scared me. Rhia was battered and bruised. There was blood all over her. I imagined it to be you. I would've done something stupid if I went with them. I couldn't do it, Em. I'm sorry I'm such a coward. I only stayed behind because… I love you."

I stopped breathless and waited desperately for an answer. Feeling awkward I repeated, "I love you." I stepped towards her tentatively but she stepped back.

"But why?" she asked.

"Again with the whys," I said instinctively. "What do you mean?"

"Why, do you love me?" Now I stepped back in surprise. What kind of question was that?

"Love you?" I asked stupidly. I couldn't help it. I had no idea what she meant.

"Yes," Emma cried impatiently, "Of all the girls you've met why choose me?! I'm not pretty _or_ smart. Why not choose Tracy or Melanie! Why me? I need to know why you chose me?!" Were those tears in her eyes? I wanted to comfort her so badly. Tell her it was all right, but it wasn't. What did attract me to her? I didn't know. I had never thought about it before.

"Because… because of the way you laugh at my jokes, even when they aren't funny. Because of how much passion you put into your drawings." I stepped towards her and when she didn't move, I moved closer and placed my hands on her shoulders. I looked into her eyes and continued, "Because you never want to cry, even when that's all you want to do." As I continued, I felt tears run down my face. I hadn't realized how much I missed her. I felt like a loser. "For two months, you've never left my thoughts. I saw you in my dreams, I saw you at school. Everywhere I went, I saw you. I mean, that's got to mean something right?" I dropped my hands to my side and stepped back several paces. I looked away and said softly, "And because… you've been the one thing that kept me going. Call me cheesy but it's true." I turned to face her and continued, "And because… you're going to get sick with pneumonia but if you need to know why I love you, I could go on all night."

I waited, for her to reply. It had grown chilly and I hugged myself waiting for an answer. For a moment she didn't say anything and I thought I had screwed up my last chance. I began to turn around, to head home, when suddenly I felt a hand grab my wrist. I turned around slowly and locked eyes with Emma.

I felt her close up on me and I felt my heart race. Her hands slowly went up around my neck. Looking down at her, I saw her smile and quietly say, "You did brilliant." I saw her draw nearer and before I could respond, I felt her soft lips on mine. I hesitated at first for I have never had a kiss like this, so soft and pure. I felt exhilarated. With the rain falling fiercely from the sky, I closed my eyes and began kissing back. As we kissed, I instinctively wrapped my arms around her waist and I felt her lift up onto her toes. It must have lasted for more than five seconds with her hand intertwined in my hair and mine in her long, soft, blond hair. Then I began feeling faint and I forced myself to pull away. With my arms around her neck I leaned against her head, looked down into her eyes and smiled, the first genuine smile in two months.

"What was that for?" I asked smiling. Emma returned my ghostly smile and replied, "I don't know." Still, even after the kiss, I felt uncomfortable. Guilt.

"Listen," I said seriously. I pulled her close and said, "I really didn't mean to hurt you. You know us boys, we're horrible with emotions. But, I really do love you." Emma nodded understandingly and said cheekily, "Yes, I have four best guy friends. I'm pretty sure I guessed from the start." I smiled secretly, and pressed my lips against her forehead. I felt a rush of blood and knew that I never wanted to let her go. Being with her felt so perfect, she _was_ perfect. I closed my eyes gently in order to soak in everything. That's when it happened.

Suddenly, I heard a sharp scream of pain. My eyes shot open and I saw Emma collapse in my arms. "EMMA!" I cried in shock. All I received were gasps of pain. Giving another sharp shrill, Emma doubled over and I was forced onto the ground. Caressing her head, I watched her helpless. Her face screwed up in pain. "What's wrong Em?" I asked frightened. "Tell me, what's happening?"

Emma looked up into my eyes and said between gasps, "M…my…s…side. It… it hurts." She groaned in pain and closed her eyes tightly. _I have to find help._ "But where!" I shouted to the howling wind. "Tell me what to do!" Nothing. Heaving a sigh, I looked down at her. She had blacked out. She seemed so beautiful, so peaceful, as if she was sleeping. I was so tempted to press my lips against hers, to tell her I was here, but I couldn't, not when I knew she was suffering. I had to seek out help. Looking up, I scanned the surroundings and smiled relieved as I saw a house in the distance. It was my house. "Mom," I whispered. _Of course, mom would be able to help. But then, I'd have to tell her everything. I couldn't. _"I have no choice," I whispered to myself.

Lifting her head up slightly, I tucked my arms underneath her body and heaved her up into my arms. She was surprisingly light and I found it extremely easy to carry her. I glanced down into her face and couldn't help but feel a wave of regret. Pressing her close to my body, I brought my right hand out to quickly brush away a strand of hair. Adjusting her weight, I walked over the bridge carefully and set on returning to my house.


	9. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"Very good Fidelio, very good." Fidelio laid down his violin and smiled. His teacher, Mr. Rufino clapped his hands and instructed, "Now, play from the top." Fidelio positioned his violin and began playing. The music floated off of his violin and traveled around the room. Bow down, bow up, Fidelio continued to play until the door opened, stopping the flow of music.

"Dr. Saltweather," Fidelio said in surprise. He put his violin down and sat it on his thigh. Dr. Saltweather was the head of the music department and he had a special immunity to water. He was a in his early 40s and he had dark, burly brown hair. Though he liked to keep updated on the students' music progress, he rarely entered a lesson.

"Dr. Saltweather," Mr. Rufino said with irritation, "I am in the middle of a lesson here. Whatever you have to say can wait till the end of lesson."

"Sir," Fidelio ventured, "There's only about 5 minutes left. Clearly I can speak to him for the rest of class." He could see that Mr. Rufino definitely did not like that idea but he nodded his head. "Thanks sir!" Fidelio quickly picked up his case and laid his violin inside. As he followed Dr. Saltweather out the door Mr. Rufino called after him, "I'm only doing this because you are a good and talented student." Fidelio turned around and smiled, closing the door behind him.

Dr. Saltweather strode quickly down the hallway and Fidelio had to almost run just to keep up. Turning into a corner, Dr. Saltweather quickly ushered Fidelio into an empty room. Checking the hallway one last time, Dr. Saltweather closed the door. Fidelio looked around the room and found it must have been some kind of old, piano room for there was a piano in the bottom right corner. However, cobwebs hung from the piano and dust filled the ground. Fidelio had never seen this room and wondered why. However he was more interested in what Dr. Saltweather had to say. "What is it sir?" Fidelio asked. At the moment, Dr. Saltweather seemed extremely nervous.

"Do you know a girl by the name of Rhiannon, Fidelio?" Dr. Saltweather began.

"Yes," Fidelio said slowly.

"Well, Cook and I have been talking and I think she might be more powerful than she really seems."

"What makes you say that, sir?" Fidelio asked. Dr. Saltweather was good friends with Cook but Rhiannon wasn't in music. She was in art according to Emma, so how would Dr. Saltweather know anything about her?

"I am well aware that she is not in music, Fidelio," Dr. Saltweather said as if he read Fidelio's mind, "However I have seen her around the academy. I know how she looks."

"Really?" Fidelio asked, "Who showed you?"

"Who else?!" Dr. Saltweather asked chuckling. Fidelio merely shrugged.

"Cook of course." Dr. Saltweather said. He and Cook were good friends and much of his information usually did come from Cook.

"What else did she tell you?" Fidelio asked, "Charlie went to visit her with Billy and Gabriel last week and he said that she wasn't very reluctant to speak."

"Yes, she is." Dr. Saltweather agreed. "She won't even tell me what's bothering her. No worries though. She'll tough it out, whatever's bothering her. About that girl."

"Yeah, what about Rhiannon?" Fidelio asked. He held his breath wondering if this could be the start of another adventure here at Bloor's.

"Well, no one is really sure where she comes from or anything about her past but Cook did tell me one thing." Dr. Saltweather reached into his pocket and pulled out an old, folded paper. It looked stained and as if it came from a book. One edge was teared and imprinted on the page was a picture of a young girl.

"Does this picture remind you of anyone?"

"No," Fidelio immediately said. However, Dr. Saltweather merely shook his head and ordered, "Look closer." Fidelio squinted his eyes as he stared at the picture. However, he simply could not see anything familiar about the picture. He was about to say so but then something caught his eye. Glancing back, Fidelio saw that nothing had changed from the picture. Was it just his imagination then? Fidelio squinted his eyes again and stepped back surprised.

"Rhiannon," he breathed. He looked up at Dr. Saltweather expectantly. "Is that picture of Rhiannon?" Dr. Saltweather shook his head.

"This picture was taken a long time ago. Cook found it in a book. Apparently this book has all the family trees dating back to the Red King himself. They have a page for each family member and she found this picture under Lilith's family tree. So that means, whoever this girl is, she was related to Lilith and Count Harken Badlock."

"Wow," Fidelio breathed. "Do you know who this girl is sir?"

"Unfortunately no," Dr. Saltweather shook his head, "The book is ancient and much of the writing in the book has faded. This young girl's name had faded completely so I have no clue who she is. Cook doesn't know either."

"But sir," Fidelio said. "What does this have to do with Rhiannon. Sure it looks like her but, does that mean she's the ancestor?"

"It might, Fidelio," Dr. Saltweather said, "Or, have you ever heard of reincarnation?" Fidelio nodded his head. He remembered hearing it in history one time last year but he didn't see how this had to do with it.

"Now this is just an idea, we have no evidence to support this but, Cook and I believe that maybe, possibly, Rhiannon could be the reincarnation of this girl right here. After all, they look almost identical."

"Reincarnation." Fidelio said to himself, feeling the word over his tongue. "Why would she be a reincarnation though? Don't they have to be extra special or urgent or something to have a reincarnation?"

"That's correct. I'm thinking that maybe one of her ancestors wanted desperately to relive their life, for what possible reason, I do not know. Remember Fidelio, this is just a theory. She could just well be an ancestor of Lilith's. No one is certain." At this moment, the dreaded horn sounded and Dr. Saltweather stamped his foot in frustration. Obviously, he had a lot more to say to Fidelio.

"Sir," Fidelio said, "can I have that picture? Maybe I could show it to Charlie and the others."

"Yes, that may be a good idea." Dr. Saltweather handed the paper to Fidelio and he folded it into his pocket. "Now be careful with that picture, Fidelio." Dr. Saltweather warned. "You don't want it to get into the wrong hands."

"Yes sir," Fidelio said and he opened the door. The hallway was now filled with students leisurely walking, heading for their designated homework room. Fidelio hurried out the hallway and went to seek out Charlie before he went to the King's Room.

*****

"Are you ready Rhia?" Billy asked as he waited outside.

"Yeah," came the voice. Rhianon quickly slung her bag over her back and hurried outside. "I'm here," she smiled and swung herself around. Billy laughed and shook his head. Rhiannon have changed quite a bit after the past few weeks. Before she wouldn't even so much glance at Billy, now she was almost like his best friend.

"Come on let's hurry up." Billy cried. He ran down the hallway and down the stairs, leading to the main floor. He ran past the art rooms and turned the corner. Looking back over his shoulder he saw Rhiannon suddenly stop. Fear had swept over her face.

"What is it?" he asked. He stopped and walked back towards her.

"I thought I just heard…" Rhiannon looked around confused. She shook her head and said, "Never mind."

"Are you sure?" Billy asked. "You know if you hear something…"

"No no. It must have just been my imagination." Rhiannon said. She smiled but Billy saw that she was worried. He wanted to comfort her but decided against it. Gesturing to her, he continued his way to the King's Room. However, he did not feel as carefree as he had just felt. He kept looking back at Rhiannon and saw indeed that she was deeply disturbed, _but by what?_ He did not know.

Stopping in front of the King's Room he turned to Rhiannon. "Here it is," he said. He pushed open the door and walked in. Slowly, Rhiannon followed. Billy took his seat next to Charlie and gestured for Rhiannon to follow. Slowly, Rhiannon obeyed and she carefully sat herself beside Billy. "Rhia, this is Charlie." Billy said. "Charlie, this is Rhia."

"Hi," Charlie said. Rhiannon just curtly nodded. Setting down her bag, she glanced around the rom. Behind her was an enormous picture of some man that Rhiannon did not know. She guessed that he was pretty famous since he had such a big picture in this room. _Maybe he's the king._ she thought, _after all, this place is called the King's Room._ Looking into the picture gave Rhiannon a sense of security.

"Hey Rhia," Rhiannon turned around and a shudder went down her back. _Melanie._ Rhiannon looked into Melanie's eyes and saw none of the compassion she had received a week ago. Looking away, Rhiannon felt Melanie's eyes still watching her. _Look away._ She willed her but it seemed like Melanie was planning to watch her the entire two hours. Chancing a glance, Rhiannon turned to Billy. Sensing her, Billy turned his head, "Is everything ok Rhia?" he whispered. Frantically nodding, Rhiannon turned away. She felt Billy watch her but could not bring herself to look at her.

As Billy stared at his work he realized he could not concentrate. Putting his pen down, he looked up and turned around. Catching Manfred's eyes he saw something strange. Manfred's eyes did not have that strange hypnotic stare as they usually did. Instead Billy saw that were blank or distance. It was as if Manfred was in his own world. _Is he asleep or is he awake and just zoning out? _Billy could not say after all, some people slept with their eyes open. Scanning the room, he realized that it was unusually quiet. No one was talking, not even the other endowed children. Ineth and Idith were not abusing their endowment as they normally did and Joshua and Dagbert were bent over their work, quietly. Looking over to his left, Billy saw Emma, Lysander, and Tancred. However neither one of them was talking. Billy also noticed that Emma and Tancred were avoiding eye contact.

_What's going on? _Billy thought to himself, _everything's so quiet and everyone's acting so strange. Manfred, Emma, Rhia, Tancred… even the evil kids… they were acting all strange_ and Billy had no clue why. He felt extremely uncomfortable in this silence. He crossed his hands over his work and bent his head into them. Closing his eyes, Billy unconsciously drifted off to sleep.

*****

"Em," a call came from behind her. Emma bit her lip as she debated whether to turn or not. However, before she could make the decision she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"What do you want?" Emma asked turning around. Emma had left the King's Room in a hurry, in hopes of escaping Tancred. The less she saw of him the less tempted she would feel to be with him.

"I…" Tancred stuttered. Taking a deep breath he said, "Em, this is ridiculous. Can you just tell me what's going on? I'll tell you what's on my mind."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked. _What could possibly be bothering him besides the fact that she was ignoring him?_

"I think I know why you're acting this way, Em." Emma looked up into his eyes, her eyes filled with pain. She stood still, waiting for Tancred's answer. Tancred smiled and gently brought his hand up to face. Wiping a piece of hair out of her face he said, "The same thing happened to me. Someone told you that you couldn't hang out with me. Is that right?"

"How…how did you know?" Emma asked.

"Well, because someone said the same thing to me." Emma's eyes opened wide.

"When?" her voice came out a bit strained.

"Last Wednesday." Tancred said matter-of-factly. "It was the captain of the soccer team. He said you weren't the right 'type' of girl." Shrugging he continued, "I don't know what he's talking about but…"

"I do," Emma interrupted quietly. Tancred looked down at her surprised. "Remember when you went out with Tracy?" Tancred nodded, clearing hating those memories. "Well, those are the type of girls the captain means. The pretty, preppy, popular girls. They don't like girls like me because I'm too quiet and…"

"Yeah, that's what he said." Tancred said, "But just because he said that doesn't mean we can't still hang out. It's not like we're going out or anything like that, right?" Tancred's voice was so gentle, so different from his usual, feisty, self. _Everyone is changing._ Emma forced herself to nod, avoiding his eyes.

"So who told you?" Tancred asked.

"Melanie," Emma said without looking up. She felt Tancred's hand clench into a fist. She placed a hand over it and said, "It doesn't matter, Tanc."

"You're right," Tancred said. He unclenched his fist and said, "But she's going to be trouble Em. Melanie Wilson. What is her endowment?" When Emma shrugged Tancred added, "Speaking of endowment, did you notice how it was extra quiet today at the King's Room? Not even Joshua or the Dobinski twins did anything today."

"Yeah," Emma said, "I have a bad feeling Tanc." She looked up from the floor and stared into Tancred's eyes.

"What kind of bad feeling?" Tancred asked. He took a hold of Emma's hand and began walking. Emma shot a glance at him feeling his hand in hers, however he seemed not to notice. Smiling a shy smile to herself, Emma followed him as they headed for the dorms upstairs.

"I don't know," Emma said, "I just feel like… well something's bad going to happen. Like a premonition, you know?"

"Something bad always happens here at Bloor's. Bound to happen."

"I know. But I think this is going to be the worst."

"You worry too much, Em."

"I do not. I'm just telling you how I feel."

"Ok," Tancred and Emma stopped in front of the girl's dormitories. "You'd better head onto bed now. Matron will come and you know how she is." Emma nodded and reached for the doorknob.

"Good Night Em and don't worry about Melanie. As long as nothing happens, we'll be fine." Emma smiled as she listened to his voice. She opened the door and walked in. Tancred stood there watching her as the door closed behind her. Sighing, he turned around and headed for his own dorm, which he shared with Gabriel and Lysander. Walking in, he saw Lysander and Gabriel already there.

"Hey Tanc," Lysander and Gabriel were sitting on their beds already changed.

"Um… hi," Tancred said awkwardly, "What are you guys doing?"

"What does it look like?" Gabriel said grinning.

"Yeah Tanc. We saw you leaving with Emma. So…" Lysander said.

Tancred threw his bag onto the floor and bounced onto his bed. "So you want to know what we did?"

"'Course." Lysander said.

"We just talked about a little dilemma." Tancred said. He began to tell Gabriel and Lysander everything that he and Emma had discussed. He told them about Melanie and how he was not allowed to leave the soccer team. "What do you think?" he asked as he finished.

Lysander and Gabriel exchanged glances. "I wouldn't worry about it right now at the moment," Lysander began.

"But you don't want to forget about it completely," Gabriel said. "You don't know whether Melanie and Blaine are lying or not. They very well may be telling the truth. After all, Melanie is endowed and we don't know her endowment yet. As for Blaine,"

"He's not a guy to be messed with," Lysander said, "I know him. Actually for a long time and he means what he says."

"Great," Tancred said. He bent his head down in frustration and fell onto his pillow.

"But look on the bright side," Lysander said.

"What bright side?"

"At least you got some time with Emma."

"Yeah, and you held her hand." Gabriel said.

"Oh shut up!" Tancred cried. He threw a pillow at Gabriel and Lysander. Laughing, Lysander caught the pillow and threw it back at him.

"Don't you dare throw a pillow at us!" Lysander jokingly chided Tancred.

"Sure," Tancred mumbled rolling his eyes, "Whatever" He climbed off the bed and headed for the bathroom to prepare for bed.

While Lysander and Gabriel nonchalantly chatted, Fidelio and Billy were in another room, talking about Rhiannon. As soon as Fidelio entered the room, he immediately went over to Billy and asked him about Rhiannon. Sitting on their beds, Billy comfortably told him and Charlie everything he knew about Rhiannon.

"What bothers me though," Billy said more to himself then the two older boys, "is that she won't tell me anything that's bothering her and it's like she has split personalities. One second she's her, I guess, normal self, and then the next she's all miss cold, "I don't need anyone'. I just don't understand it." Billy shook his head in confusion. The two older boys exchanged worried looks.

"Well I think I found something interesting about her." Fidelio said taking out the folded piece of paper.

"What's that, Fido?" Charlie asked.

"I got this from Dr. Saltweather today and he said it might hold some important secrets about her past." Unfolding the picture, Fidelio showed it to Billy and Charlie.

"It does look a bit like her." Billy said. Charlie nodded in agreement. "Do you know where Dr. Saltweather found it Fido?

"He got it from Cook." Suddenly, Billy sat up straight. His face turned deadly pale and Charlie and Fidelio yet again exchanged worried looks. "Are you ok Billy?"

"Blessed!" Billy shouted. He jumped off the bed and rushed for the door.

"Billy!" Fidelio and Charlie jumped off the bed and ran after him. Billy opened the door and was met by Matron, towering over him.

"What is this racket Billy Raven?" Matron demanded.

"I've got to go see Blessed!" Billy said. He ducked underneath Matron and darted out the door. Fidelio and Charlie watched in amazement as Matron turned around demanding for Billy to return.

"You didn't see that coming?" Fidelio said. Charlie shook his head.

"I wonder what happened to Blessed. Billy never told us. Do you think he's in trouble or something?" Charlie asked worried. Even though Blessed was a very old and ugly dog, he was still part of Bloor's and Charlie enjoyed seeing him roam the halls of Bloor's. It reminded him that not all of Bloor's was evil.

"'Dunno," Fidelio shrugged. He sounded equally as worried. Heading back to his bed he said, "Come on, we must as well get some sleep. We can ask him in the morning and you don't want to be caught by Matron." Agreeing, Charlie crawled onto his bed, pulled up the covers and said good night. He laid there wondering whether this was only the beginning of a new adventure. As he drifted off to sleep he wondered, _What is so special about that girl, Rhiannon?_


End file.
